High Court Must Be Established in Suwon, Center of Provincial Government Operations

A strong consensus has emerged from the legal community that a high court must be established in Suwon to eliminate inefficiencies caused by the concentration of appellate cases at the Seoul High Court and to secure judicial jurisdiction.

At a "Public Hearing on the Establishment of Gyeonggi High Court" co-hosted by Assemblymember Jung Mi-kyung (Grand National Party, Suwon Gwonseon) and Gyeonggi Province on the 20th, participants unanimously emphasized the necessity of establishing a Suwon High Court.

Choi Sun-ho, Vice President of the Suwon Bar Association, who presented the main topic, disclosed the results of a survey on establishing a Suwon High Court, showing that 66% of respondents supported the proposal and over 70-80% believed it would provide beneficial effects.

Professor O Dong-seok of Ajou University School of Law also stated, "The establishment of a high court is a matter concerning local autonomy, regional decentralization, and the realization of fundamental rights of citizens," and stressed that "it would be reasonable to establish it in Suwon, the center of Gyeonggi Province's administrative operations."

Participants in the designated discussion sessions also emphasized the urgent need to establish a high court to share the appellate case workload of the Seoul High Court, with the majority opinion that its location and name should be Suwon.

Attorney Jin Bong-heon of the Jeonbuk Bar Association stated, "The jurisdiction should be set as 'appellate trials for cases handled by Suwon District Court's appellate division (including some single-judge cases),' and the high court should be named 'Suwon High Court' accordingly."

Park Yoon-sun, Director of the Suwon Family Legal Counseling Center, emphasized the necessity of establishing a high court by citing ▲realization of equal access to courts ▲increase in litigation cases due to Gyeonggi Province's population growth ▲functional division of labor and equity brought about by establishing a high court ▲revitalization of the regional legal market.

Director Park stated, "I fully agree with the main presentation," and added, "To promptly establish the high court, strong political will from the legislative branch transcending party lines and the driving force of the judicial branch are very necessary."

Ryu In-kwon, Legal Counselor of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "The establishment of a high court in Gyeonggi Province is a temporal demand that can no longer be delayed," but presented the opinion that high courts should be established in both southern and northern Gyeonggi, or alternatively, an external division should be established in the north.

Choi Young-rak, Deliberation Advisor of the Court Administration Office, said, "Considering the proportion of cases under Suwon District Court's jurisdiction among the total cases of the Seoul High Court and the population, it is at a level worth actively reviewing."

He added, "To realize the establishment of a high court, various practical matters such as site selection and securing budgets for new building construction must be resolved."