Inha University Law School Files Lawsuit to Cancel Bar Association Evaluation... Court Dismisses Case

The Inha University Law School, which received a 'temporary non-accreditation' evaluation from the Korean Bar Association (KBA) Law School Evaluation Committee, filed a lawsuit seeking to cancel the disposition, but the court did not accept it on the grounds that it is "not subject to administrative litigation."

Seoul Administrative Court.

According to the legal community on the 21st, the Seoul Administrative Court Administrative Division 7 (Chief Judge Lee Ju-young) dismissed the plaintiff's claim in the lawsuit filed by the school corporation Jeongseok Inha Academy against the Evaluation Committee to cancel the temporary non-accreditation disposition. Dismissal means concluding the case without substantive judgment on the grounds that the lawsuit requirements were not met.

The Evaluation Committee conducted the third cycle evaluation of 25 law schools nationwide from September to December 2022. In January of last year, the committee notified Inha University Law School that it was non-compliant in two of the five evaluation areas, including students and faculty, but improvement was possible within one year, resulting in a 'temporary non-accreditation' evaluation.

Jeongseok Inha Academy filed an administrative lawsuit claiming the evaluation was unfair. In response, the Evaluation Committee argued, "The evaluation does not directly affect the plaintiff's rights or obligations, so it does not constitute a disposition subject to an appeal lawsuit."

The court sided with the Evaluation Committee. The bench ruled, "The evaluation system serves only to check whether law schools meet certain standards as institutions for training lawyers and to help prospective students choose appropriate schools; it does not affect specific rights or obligations in any way."

Furthermore, the court stated, "There is no legal obligation for the plaintiff to undergo re-evaluation by the defendant," and "Even if the publication of the evaluation results causes the university's image or credibility to decline, potentially negatively impacting university management, this is merely an indirect and factual effect resulting from the evaluation."

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