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LawLegianceWorld Legal Atlas
New editioncountry guide

The South Korea Legal System

A complete plain-language guide to Republic of Korea

4.6(1107 reviews)From $29
Edition
2026 Edition
Extent
1929 pages
Language
English
ISBN
978-1-0000-197-1

About this book

A structured tour of how law actually works in South Korea — where it comes from, who makes it, which court hears what, and how an ordinary person or business interacts with the system. Written for readers with no legal training, with every institution named and every primary source cited so you can verify the position yourself. A civil-law system that received German doctrine indirectly through Japanese codification during the colonial period, then absorbed substantial American public-law and procedural influence after 1948. The Civil Act of 1958 remains the core private-law statute. The defining institution is the Constitutional Court, created by the 1987 Constitution and sitting from 1988: it is a genuinely powerful tribunal that has struck down hundreds of statutory provisions, dissolved a political party, upheld one presidential impeachment and rejected another, and hears constitutional complaints directly from individuals.

What is inside

  • Full South Korea court hierarchy explained tier by tier
  • Named regulators with contact routes and response times
  • Step-by-step procedures for the most common legal tasks
  • Every claim footnoted to an official primary source
  • Glossary of local legal terminology in plain English

Table of contents

5 parts · 18 chapters

Part I — Foundations

  1. 01The legal tradition
  2. 02Constitutional framework
  3. 03Sources of law

Part II — Institutions

  1. 01The court hierarchy
  2. 02Government and regulators
  3. 03Enforcement bodies
  4. 04The legal profession

Part III — Everyday Law

  1. 01Work and employment
  2. 02Housing and property
  3. 03Family and personal status
  4. 04Criminal process

Part IV — Doing Things

  1. 01Starting a business
  2. 02Immigration and residence
  3. 03Tax obligations
  4. 04Making a complaint

Part V — Reference

  1. 01Procedure checklists
  2. 02Glossary
  3. 03Official sources index

Who this is for

  • Residents and newcomers who need to understand their rights
  • Businesses entering or operating in the jurisdiction
  • Lawyers taking a first look at an unfamiliar system
  • Students of comparative law

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