Supreme Court Submits Legislative Opinion on 'Improvement of the Appeal System' to the National Assembly

Introduction of Final Appeal Review System and Increase of 4 Supreme Court Justices
Proposal to Abolish Summary Dismissal of Appeals

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The Supreme Court has submitted legislative opinions to the National Assembly regarding improvements to the appeal system, including the introduction of an appeal review system and the addition of four justices to the Supreme Court. Since his inauguration in September 2017, Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo has presented the improvement of the appeal system as a major task and has been reviewing various measures.

On the 5th, the Supreme Court announced that it submitted the "Opinions on the Amendment of Laws Related to Appeal Review," containing the details of the appeal system improvement, as legislative opinions from the Chief Justice to the National Assembly.

In the legislative opinions, the Supreme Court argued that the Civil Procedure Act and the Criminal Procedure Act should be amended to introduce an appeal review system. The aim is to enable the Supreme Court to efficiently perform its function as a court of law and focus on the trial of cases involving important legal issues.

The plan divides appeal types into statutory appeals and review appeals. If the grounds for appeal are recognized, the substantive case will be reviewed; if not recognized and dismissed without substantive review, half of the litigation filing fee will be refunded to the parties. For civil cases, the review period is set at four months, after which substantive review must be conducted to prevent delays in litigation.

Additionally, the Supreme Court proposed abolishing the "non-review" system by repealing the Special Act on Appeal Procedures. Introduced in 1994, the non-review system confirms the lower court's judgment without separately explaining the reasons unless there are special circumstances. This system has caused continuous dissatisfaction among parties due to the lack of specific reasons in the judgment documents.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court included in its legislative opinions the need to amend the Court Organization Act to increase the number of justices. To meet public expectations that the essential part of appeal case trials, including appeal reviews, should be conducted at the Supreme Court, and to process appeal cases promptly to effectively guarantee the public's right to a trial, it is necessary to increase the number of justices by four over six years, assuming the introduction of the Supreme Court appeal review system.

Currently, there are 14 justices, including the Chief Justice. If four justices are added, the three petty benches composed of four justices each will increase to four. The full bench will also increase from 13 to 17 justices. The Chief of the Judicial Administration Office, who is a justice, does not handle judicial duties but is responsible for court administration.

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