"Civic Groups Urge National Assembly to Pass Bill Establishing Incheon High Court with Head Shaving Protest"

Civil organizations and the bar association in Incheon have strongly urged the National Assembly to pass a legislative amendment to establish a High Court in the region. The Incheon Citizens' Coalition and the Incheon Bar Association held a rally on the 13th in front of the main gate of the National Assembly building in Yeouido, demanding the establishment of the Incheon High Court.

Jo Yong-ju, Special Committee Chair for Attracting the Incheon High Court of the Incheon Bar Association, stated, "The number of appellate cases in Incheon exceeds those of the Daejeon and Daegu High Courts, and despite Incheon being the second most populous metropolitan city in the country, it lacks a High Court, resulting in discrimination against Incheon citizens." He added, "The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee must promptly review and approve the amendment bill to establish the Incheon High Court so that it can pass the plenary session."

Jung Kwan-yong, co-representative of the Incheon Citizens' Coalition, held a head-shaving ceremony and appealed, "Incheon citizens bear the time and economic burdens of traveling to Seoul for trial, and especially due to the region's many islands, accessibility for island residents is very poor." He emphasized, "The judicial basic rights, including the 'right to a speedy trial' as stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, must also be guaranteed to Incheon citizens."

Jung Kwan-yong, co-representative of the Incheon Citizens' Coalition, is performing a head-shaving ceremony on the 13th in front of the main gate of the National Assembly building in Yeouido, urging the establishment of the Incheon High Court.
[Photo by Incheon Bar Association]

Currently, among metropolitan cities, only Incheon and Ulsan lack a High Court. Considering that Incheon’s population (3 million) is about three times that of Ulsan (1.1 million), Incheon is effectively the only major metropolitan city without a High Court.

Accordingly, Democratic Party lawmakers Shin Dong-geun (Incheon Seo-gu Eul) and Kim Gyo-heung (Incheon Seo-gu Gap), representing constituencies in Incheon, proposed the "Partial Amendment to the Act on the Establishment and Jurisdiction of Courts" in June 2020. However, the bill has been stalled in the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee for over three years without progress. It was submitted twice to the first subcommittee for bill review in December last year and last month but was not deliberated due to time constraints.

Meanwhile, Incheon civil organizations have been making every effort to attract the Incheon High Court by coordinating with the Incheon city government, political circles, and the legal community, conducting a citywide signature campaign, and holding National Assembly forums to ensure the amendment is processed within the 21st National Assembly’s term. The signature campaign for attracting the Incheon High Court garnered participation from 1.1 million people, about one-third of Incheon’s population.

In March 2019, the Seoul High Court’s Incheon Branch Court opened, but it operates only two collegiate panels handling civil and family appellate cases. Criminal and administrative appellate cases are still handled by the Seoul High Court, forcing Incheon citizens to travel about 50 km to Seocho-dong, Seoul, to attend trials, causing inconvenience.

Moreover, as of 2020, the Seoul High Court has the largest jurisdictional area among all High Courts and a jurisdictional population of 18.94 million, more than twice that of the second-largest Suwon High Court. The number of cases is 20,659, accounting for 60% of the 30,412 main lawsuits nationwide, resulting in an overloaded workload. This has been pointed out as causing delays or inefficiencies in trials, highlighting the need to distribute judicial services away from the Seoul High Court.

If a High Court is established in Incheon, citizens of neighboring areas such as Gimpo and Bucheon in Gyeonggi Province can also expect improved quality of judicial services. Currently, High Courts are established in Seoul, Daejeon, Daegu, Busan, Gwangju, and Suwon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.