한국 민사상고제도의 개선방안

A Study on the Improvement of the Korean Final Appeal System in Civil Cases

The final appeal system to the Supreme Court of Korea in civil cases has been changed several times with the formation of the Supreme Court. As the current system allows wide range of final appeal, the Supreme Court has a burden of excessive caseload. It is generally said that the purpose of appeal system is twofold, namely to protect the parties from the errors of lower courts and to maintain uniformity in the interpretation of the law. And it has long been debated to which purpose to give priority in the final appeal in civil cases. In the era of a simple society and small-sized economy, the priority might have given to the protection of the parties. But in a complex society and big-scaled economy such as Korea, it is almost unimaginable to give priority to the protection of the parties in the final appeal system in civil cases and at the same time to expect the role of the Supreme Court as a highest court carried out smoothly. Therefore to keep the balance between the two purposes, the protection of the parties should be mainly carried out in the first appeal courts, which can review both factual findings and the questions of law, and the final appeal should be restricted to cases worth reviewing by the only highest court of the nation. Among the already suggested restriction methods, to allow a final appeal only when there is a leave of a lower court is desirable. In light of the Korean experience of operation and abolition of leave-final appeal system from 1981 to 1990, it should be noted that the reliable trial and judgment of the lower courts are essential in order to put a restriction on the final appeal.