Kim, Hyun Seok --- "Why Do We Pursue ‘Oral Proceedings’ in Our Legal System?" [2010] ELECD 252; in Cho, Kuk (ed), "Litigation in Korea" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Litigation in Korea

Editor(s): Cho, Kuk

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848443396

Section: Chapter 2

Section Title: Why Do We Pursue ‘Oral Proceedings’ in Our Legal System?

Author(s): Kim, Hyun Seok

Number of pages: 27

Extract:

2. Why do we pursue `oral proceedings'
in our legal system?
Hyun Seok Kim

I. INTRODUCTION

1. Background to Raising the Issue of `Oral Proceedings'

For the past year and a half, the Korean judiciary has been at the center of
debate on whether to implement oral proceedings regularly into our judicial
system. What caused oral proceedings to become one of the most controver-
sial issues in the Korean judiciary?
The judiciary should be accountable to the public. However, due to rapid
social changes in Korea, including growth of the public's aspirations for their
rights, it is unlikely that the public would be satisfied with the services
provided by the judiciary. Thus, the public will end up distrusting the judi-
ciary.1 We looked into oral proceedings because we feared that the basis of our
judicial system would collapse if the judiciary were to adhere to conventional
court practices and not take measures to adjust to the desires of the public. The
question then becomes, what do we expect from oral proceedings in judicial
processes as one of the crucial means to reconstruct our judicial system?
Would a switch to oral proceedings build up the public trust of the judiciary?
This chapter examines the background to proposals to implement oral
proceedings, the process of discussion, and feasible methods of using oral
proceedings in the litigation process as well as ongoing prospects and tasks.

2. Oral Proceedings as a Principle in Civil Procedure

As a counterpart of the principle of ...