South Korea's Legal Structure - "For Dummies"

Hello and welcome to our blog! I'd like to start by asking you to excuse my cliche title "For Dummies" but we all know judicial systems can be complicated to understand for those of us in our home countries let alone trying to understand a foreign system. By the end of this post you should have an understanding of how the South Korean legal system is structured and operates, hopefully you will find this useful as you begin to operate in the Public Relations industry.

Supreme Court

• Highest court in South Korea, located in the capital Seoul
• The President appoints the Chief of Justice
• There are 13 other justices that get appointed by the Chief of Justice and President
• Each justice is assigned 3 research judges who help them research their opinions
• The supreme court has appellate jurisdiction
• It is organised into three Petty Benches, each consisting of 4 justices, they hear the cases from the lower courts and reach a consensus. However a consensus is not always reached, this leads to the Grand Bench. 
• The Grand Bench is composed of more than two-thirds of the justices and overseen by the Chief, judgements are made based on majority rather than consensus
• The Grand Bench also hears cases where it is deemed that any order, rule, or regulation is in violation of the laws or the Constitution

Constitutional Court

• Independent and specialized court whose primarily role is the reviewing of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea
• It also has administrative law functions such as ruling on competence disputes between governmental entities, giving final decisions on impeachments, and making judgments on the dissolution of political parties
• 9 justices serve on the court, all are appointed by the President - Justices of the Constitutional Court are prohibited from joining political parties and engaging in political activities

High Court

• There are six High Courts that have appellate jurisdiction over cases decided by a trial panel of three judges in a District Court or Family Court, decisions of the Administrative Court, and civil cases heard before the District Court in which one judge decided and where the amount in controversy exceeds 50,000,000 won.
• The high court essentially hears any cases that could not be solved in Municipal or District Court
• No juries exist

Municipal Court

• The Municipal Courts only exercise original jurisdiction over minor cases, such as small claims cases where the amount in controversy does not exceed 20 million won or misdemeanor trials in which the maximum possible sentence is 30 days in jail or a fine not exceeding 200,000 won.
•  There are currently 103 municipal courts in South Korea.
• No juries exist

District Court

• There are 18 District Courts that have original jurisdiction over most civil and criminal cases
• In most cases, a single judge hears the case and renders a verdict, although in particularly important or serious cases, a trial panel of three judges may hear the case and render a decision.
• No juries exist

Branch Court

• Branch Courts are organized under and considered a part of the District Courts
• There are 40 Branch Courts in South Korea
• The Branch Courts function much as the District Courts do, but lack any appellate function
• No juries exist