Jurisdiction, schedules, branches: the terms

Jurisdiction is which court takes the case. Korean law splits it into territorial, subject-matter and instance jurisdiction. This app covers the base of the territorial kind: which district belongs to which court.

That mapping is set by statute, not by preference. So this app only reproduces the statute. It never suggests where to file, because the answer turns on the type of case and the parties.

The articles of the statute say where courts sit. Which district belongs to which court is set by the schedules (별표). There are eleven, and this app carries their text verbatim.

Three schedules matter for finding a district: Schedule 3 for district courts and branches, Schedule 5 for family courts, Schedule 7 for si/gun courts. Schedule 10 covers rehabilitation courts and Schedule 11 the admiralty and international commercial courts.

• Schedule 3 covers district courts and their branches. That is the base for civil and criminal cases.
• Schedule 5 covers family courts and their branches, for family, juvenile and domestic protection cases.
• Schedule 7 covers si/gun courts. It states the province and the district separately.
• Schedules 10 and 11 cover rehabilitation and admiralty courts, stated by province.

One district can map to several courts depending on the case. That is why a district page has several rows. Each row states what that court handles, using the schedule title as written.

• District court: civil and criminal. Where a branch exists, the branch covers the district.
• Family court: family, juvenile and domestic protection. Where none exists, the district court covers it.
• Si/gun court: small claims, conciliation, payment orders, uncontested divorce. Each has a parent court.
• Rehabilitation court: rehabilitation and bankruptcy. Schedule 10 states it by province.

A district court has a main court and branches. In Schedule 3, a row with an empty branch column is the main court; a row naming a branch is that branch.

Districts covered by a branch are carved out of the main court row. So one district can appear in two rows, and both rows have to be read together.

Some amendments are promulgated but not yet in force. On the effective date, jurisdiction changes. This app fetches the statute text for each future date and compares it with today.

The comparison covers Schedules 3, 5 and 7. Where a district's court name differs, the district page states the date. Ask the court how it applies after that date.

• Two districts share a name. 고성군 exists in Gangwon and in Gyeongnam; 중구 exists in several metropolitan cities. Use the neighbouring names in the schedule line to tell them apart.
• The schedule often omits the province. Si and gun are written bare; gu are written with the metropolitan city. Nothing was filled in for them.
• A proviso can move jurisdiction back. The sentence carving out juvenile protection cases is one example.
• Si/gun courts handle a fixed set of matters. Another statute sets that list, so it is not stated here.
• When districts merge or are renamed, the schedule changes too. The retrieval date is shown on screen.