The apex of the ordinary courts, distinct from the Constitutional Court: it cannot invalidate a statute, but it may hold subordinate legislation unlawful and it controls the interpretation of the codes. Its Grand Bench sits for departures from precedent. The division of labour between the two apex bodies has produced genuine friction over which of them may effectively review a statute as applied, and a litigant needs to know which track a question belongs in before filing.
How the court is constituted
- Tier
- supreme
- Court type
- Apex court of the ordinary hierarchy
- Jurisdiction
- Final appeals in civil, criminal, administrative, family and military matters, and review of the legality of subordinate legislation and administrative action.
- Seat
- Seoul
- Established
- 1948
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