Seoul Administrative Court Establishes Dedicated Division for 'School Violence' Cases... Collegiate Panel to Single Judge

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Seoul Administrative Court has decided to operate dedicated trial divisions for the swift and specialized handling of the increasing number of school violence cases.

According to the legal community on the 17th, starting from the regular judicial personnel appointment date on the 20th of this month, the Administrative Division 1 (Judge Son Hye-jung), Administrative Division 2 (Chief Judge Ko Eun-seol), and Administrative Division 5 (Judge Jo Seo-young) will be exclusively responsible for school violence cases.

These three divisions will handle school violence cases along with the cases they have been managing, such as refugee and industrial accident cases.

Seoul Administrative Court, Yangjae-dong, Seoul. Photo by Seoul Administrative Court.

The Seoul Administrative Court has changed the handling of school violence cases, which were previously managed by a panel of three judges, to be handled by single-judge divisions. This measure was taken considering the increasing number of administrative lawsuits related to school violence and the need for prompt trials.

In principle, administrative lawsuits are heard by a panel of judges, but depending on the nature of the case, after a 'single-judge assignment' decision, a single-judge division can hear the case.

School violence disciplinary actions are primarily decided by the school principal. However, if the parties involved object, they can request a review by the School Violence Committee of the Metropolitan and Provincial Offices of Education, and if they still object to the committee's decision, they can file an administrative lawsuit to receive a court judgment.

According to the Ministry of Education, the number of school violence cases reviewed by the School Violence Committees of the 17 Metropolitan and Provincial Offices of Education nationwide was 8,357 in 2020 when the committee reviews began, nearly doubling to 15,653 in 2021, and 9,796 cases were received by the end of August last year.

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