Civil law and civil procedural law

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to give readers a general reference and information on Korean civil law and civil procedural law. These two areas of law cover a wide range of subjects. Thus, they are highly comprehensive in their scope. In particular, the Korean Civil Code is the lengthiest of all the statutory laws in Korea. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to give detailed accounts on every aspect of these two areas of law here in this chapter. Rather, this chapter aims to give an overall picture of these areas of law and to highlight some essential features thereof. Furthermore, this chapter also intends to give some insight on dynamic aspects of these areas of law. This dynamism mainly comes from interaction between Western form and Korean substance, as I will later explain in more detail. Against this backdrop, this chapter is structured as follows: Part II is the preliminary part of this chapter, aimed at providing readers with relevant background information concerning Korean legal history and institutions; Parts III and IV present a general overview of Korean civil law and civil procedure law, respectively; Finally, Part V gives a brief summary and conclusion of the chapter.