The legal system of North Korea
A socialist legal system subordinate to the Workers' Party of Korea. Codified law exists and some of it is published — a Civil Law (1990), a Family Law (1990), a Criminal Law repeatedly revised since 1950, and a growing body of foreign-investment and special-economic-zone legislation — but this profile describes the published statute book, which cannot be treated as a description of practice. There is no accessible body of case law, no independent bar, and no judicial review. The 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry documented a parallel extrajudicial system of political detention camps operating outside the published codes, and successive UN Special Rapporteur reports describe routine denial of the procedural rights the codes nominally confer. Every entry for this country should be read with that gap in mind.
Legal tradition
North Korea belongs to the socialist law tradition. A socialist legal system subordinate to the Workers' Party of Korea. Codified law exists and some of it is published — a Civil Law (1990), a Family Law (1990), a Criminal Law repeatedly revised since 1950, and a growing body of foreign-investment and special-economic-zone legislation — but this profile describes the published statute book, which cannot be treated as a description of practice. There is no accessible body of case law, no independent bar, and no judicial review. The 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry documented a parallel extrajudicial system of political detention camps operating outside the published codes, and successive UN Special Rapporteur reports describe routine denial of the procedural rights the codes nominally confer. Every entry for this country should be read with that gap in mind.
How power is divided
Unitary and centralised. Nine provinces and several specially administered cities, with directly administered special economic and tourist zones — Rason, Kaesong, Wonsan-Kalma and others — that operate under their own investment statutes offering terms unavailable in the rest of the country. Local people's assemblies exist but exercise no autonomous legislative competence.
Where law comes from
- The Socialist Constitution
- Interpreted by the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, not by courts.
- Laws and ordinances of the Supreme People's Assembly
- Selectively published; several compilations circulate only in Korean.
- Decisions of the State Affairs Commission and Cabinet
- Subordinate instruments carrying substantial practical force.
- Party policy and the leader's instructions
- Operate above published law in practice; the Party's leading role is constitutional.
- Special zone statutes
- Separate investment, labour and dispute rules apply inside Rason and the other designated zones.
The legal profession
There is no independent legal profession. Lawyers practise through the Korean Lawyers Committee, a state-controlled body, and defence representation in criminal proceedings is appointed rather than freely chosen. Foreign investors in the special economic zones generally use foreign counsel and contractual arbitration outside the country, because domestic representation and domestic dispute resolution offer no independent forum.
Law by topic in North Korea
- Family LawA published family code operating within a songbun class systemThe Family Law sets marriage ages and provides for divorce through the courts. In practice marriage and family life are heavily shaped by the songbun social classification.
- Business & CorporateForeign investment confined to special economic zonesPublished statutes provide for equity and contractual joint ventures and for wholly foreign-owned enterprises inside designated zones such as Rason. Enforcement and repatriation cannot be verified.
- Immigration & NationalityEntry by state invitation; exit by citizens is criminalisedThere is no ordinary immigration route. Foreign nationals enter by state invitation and controlled tour arrangement, and unauthorised departure by a citizen is prosecuted as a criminal offence.
- Property & LandNo private land ownership; housing held by allocationAll land is owned by the state or by cooperatives. Housing is allocated administratively rather than bought, though an unofficial market in occupancy rights is widely reported.
- Civil ProcedureCourts exist in law but are not independent of the PartyThe Civil Procedure Law provides for people's courts at three levels with a right of appeal. Judges are elected by assemblies and are not independent, so there is no impartial forum for a claim against the state.
- Employment & LabourState job assignment, with no independent trade unionThe Socialist Labour Law provides an eight-hour day and paid leave, but employment is assigned by the state rather than contracted, and no union independent of the Party is permitted.
- Constitutional LawA constitution subordinate to Party rule, unverifiable in practiceThe Socialist Constitution vests supreme power in the Supreme People's Assembly, but the Workers' Party of Korea holds actual authority. No independent verification of constitutional practice is possible.
- Criminal LawCapital punishment, political prison camps and no independent defenceThe Criminal Law provides for the death penalty for a range of offences including those framed as political. UN bodies have found a system of political prison camps operating outside any judicial process.
- Tax LawDirect taxation formally abolished; revenue raised by state leviesThe DPRK abolished direct taxation on citizens in 1974 and presents itself as a tax-free country. Revenue is raised through state enterprise transfers and, for foreign ventures, a separate foreign-investment tax law.
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