Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea |
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대한민국 대법원 | |
Badge of the Court
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Established | 1948 |
Country | South Korea |
Location | Seocho, Seoul, South Korea |
Authorized by | South Korean Constitution |
Judge term length | Six years (renewable until mandatory retirement at the age of 70) |
No. of positions | 14 |
Website | www |
Chief Justice of Korea | |
Currently | Yang Sung-tae |
Since | 2011 |
Jurist term ends | 2017 |
Supreme Court of Korea | |
Korean name | |
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Hangul | |
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Daebeobwon |
McCune–Reischauer | Taebŏbwon |
The Supreme Court of Korea is the highest court in South Korea. It is located in Seoul. Articles 101–110 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea establish the Supreme Court and enumerate its powers and responsibilities. Although the Supreme Court is the highest court for most legal issues, the Constitutional Court of Korea is the court of last resort for more specialized constitutional issues such as impeaching presidents or dissolving political parties.
The Supreme Court of Korea is composed of the Chief Justice of the Republic of Korea, and 13 other Supreme Court Justices, 12 of which have adjudicatory functions. The 13th justice of the Supreme Court is appointed by the Chief Justice as the Minister of Court Administration, and does not participate in rendering judicial opinions.
The Chief Justice of Korea is appointed to the court by the President with the consent of the National Assembly of South Korea, and serves a non-renewable term of six years from the time of appointment. The Chief Justice acts as the head of the judicial branch of the Republic of Korea, and has broad administrative powers under the Constitution, including the right to recommend other justices to the Supreme Court and the right to appoint judges of the inferior courts. The current Chief Justice is Yang Sung-Tae.
The 13 other Justices are appointed to the court by the President on the recommendation of the Chief Justice and the consent of the National Assembly, and serve renewable terms of six years.
By law, to be eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court, a person must be over 40, and have spent at least 15 years:
For the most part, Supreme Court Justices are appointed from the bench.
Supreme Court Justices are required to retire at age 70.
The Supreme Court also employs a number of research judges, whose function is to assist the Justices in researching their opinions. These research judges may either be assigned to a particular justice, or else belong to a 'pool' that provides assistance to any Justice. The research judges are appointed from among the judges of the other courts, usually presiding judges of the district courts or else associate judges of the high courts. As of September 2012, there are 106 research judges including 1 Chief research judge and 1 Senior research judge. In addition, there are 10 non-judge researchers.