소송구조의 현황과 개선방안

Litigation aid is a financial support system for those who can not afford to pay either for legal counsel or other fees incurred in court. In Korea, different forms of legal aid have existed, and litigation aid and legal aid are two examples. However, it has been continuously pointed that the structure of lawsuit using litigation aid is too complex to be filed. In order to simplify the requirements for a lawsuit, relevant regulations were revised. When it was found that the effects were far under expectations, the Civil Proceedings Act was amended as follows: “A court may grant a litigation aid, either ex-officio or upon request of a person who falls short of the solvency to pay the cost of lawsuit. The same shall not apply to the case where it is obvious that the lawsuit will fail.” As a consequence of amendment, the structure of lawsuit has become activated but not to a satisfying degree. The portion of litigation aid is still small in numbers of total civil cases. In order to activate Most of all, it is urgently needed to secure the budget for it. To motivate more litigation aid, this paper makes four suggestions; unification of law structure, development of manuals for lawsuit procedure, appointment of dedicated lawyer, and last but least securing enough budget for the aid.