Korean Court Filings Increased by 3.7% in 2024

Court Filings in Korea rose 3.72% in 2024 to over 6.9 Million Cases. The number of civil, criminal, and family law cases filed in Korean courts nationwide in 2024 reached 6,915,400, marking a 3.72% increase from 6,667,442 cases filed in 2023.

Korean Court Statistics for 2024: Korean Court Filings Increased by 3.7%

Key Statistics: Korean Civil and Criminal Cases

• Civil cases: 879,799 cases filed, a 3.39% increase from 850,926 in 2023.
• Criminal cases: 347,292 cases filed, a 2.80% increase from 337,818 in 2023.
• Civil Cases in Courts of First Instance: 805,366 cases filed, a 3.24% increase from 2023.
• Appellate Civil Court Cases: 59,475 cases filed, a 1.32% increase from 2023.
• Civil Cases: 4,709,506 (68.1% of the total number of cases).
• Criminal Cases: 1,819,492 (26.3% of the total number of cases).
• Domestic/Family Law Cases: 192,530 (2.8% of the total number of cases).

Korean Juvenile and Family Court Trends

• Juvenile Protection Cases: 50,848 cases filed, 1.5% increase. Of those adjudicated, 30,989 juveniles (60.7%) received protective orders/dispositions. Among these juveniles, 10,241 (33.1%) were between 16 and 18 years old.
• Divorce Filings in Courts of First Instance: Declined by 2.4% to 26,849 cases.

Growth in Electronic Litigation in Korea

• All 620 intellectual property cases in 2024 were filed electronically.
• The bilateral consent rate for electronic filings reached 86.5%.
• 99.9% of court of first instance filings were submitted electronically.
• All 20,878 Administrative Court cases were submitted electronically.
• 99.5% (39,966 cases) of domestic/family litigation cases were filed electronically.

Korean Rehabilitation/Bankruptcy Court Expansion

The December 20, 2024, revision of the Korean Act on the Establishment and Jurisdiction of Courts at All Levels and the Korean Act on Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy shall lead to the opening of Bankruptcy Courts in Daejeon, Daegu, and Gwangju on March 1, 2026.