SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jin Yeong Chung, Inhak Lee and Seung Hyeon Lee, Kim & Chang
If a foreign judgment on damages is contrary to Korean law or the basic policy of international treaties Korea has entered into, the court may not recognise the whole or part of the judgment. A Korean court recently permitted enforcement of the judgment by a US court which awarded a plaintiff three times the amount of actual dam- ages, reasoning that even under the applicable Korean statute, the plaintiff could have received punitive damages. 10. Appeal 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litigation If a decision of the court of first instance (district court) is appealed, the court of appellate level conducts the proceedings de novo (afresh). The decision of the appellate court can be appealed to the Supreme Court only on questions of law. 10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments Appeal to the Appellate Court The grounds for appeal to an appellate court under Korean law are much broader than under most common law jurisdictions. Either party can make an appeal on both legal and factual mat- ters. An appeal must be made by filing a written motion of appeal before the lower court within two weeks from the original judgment being served. Parties are allowed to introduce new evi- dence and arguments, and the court considers the case de novo and upholds or overturns the lower court’s judgment as necessary. Appeal to the Supreme Court A subsequent appeal to a judgment of the appel- late court (ie, the High Court) can be made to the Supreme Court. Unlike an appeal to the High
Court, the grounds for appeal to the Supreme Court are strictly limited to questions of law. In addition, the Supreme Court shall dismiss a case without hearing the case any further if any of the following grounds are not found in an appeal: • if the judgment of the appellate court is in violation of the constitution; • if the determination on whether an order, rule or disposition is unlawful is wrong; • if any act, order, rule or disposition has been interpreted contrary to a precedent of the Supreme Court; • if a relevant precedent of the Supreme Court on the interpretation of any act, order, rule or disposition does not exist or a precedent of the Supreme Court needs to be altered; • if there exists a serious violation of any act or subordinate statute; or • if there exists any ground prescribed in the provisions of Article 424(1)1 to 5 of the KCPA. 10.3 Procedure for Taking an Appeal A party who wishes to appeal must file a written motion of appeal before the lower court within two weeks from the original judgment being served. When appealing to the appellate court, the appealing party is not required to submit a writ- ten statement that specifies the grounds and the scope of appeal. However, when appealing to the Supreme Court, if the appellant has not stated the grounds for appeal in the petition, they must submit a written statement of grounds of appeal within 20 days of receiving a notice from the Supreme Court that the case records have been transferred to the Supreme Court. If the appellant fails to comply with this deadline,
1289 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook