South Korea

• The Constitution of 1987, the highest law
• Codes and statutes, such as the Civil Code and the Criminal Act
• Decisions of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court
• Custom, in limited areas

• The Supreme Court for ordinary cases
• The Constitutional Court, a separate court that reviews laws and hears constitutional complaints
• High courts, district courts and specialised courts such as family and patent courts

A law degree from a graduate law school (introduced in 2009), then the bar exam and a training period.

• The Constitutional Court is separate from the Supreme Court.
• Since 2008 some serious criminal cases have been heard with citizen juries whose verdicts advise the judge.
• The old route through a single national bar exam was replaced by law schools.
• The German influence is strong in the structure of the Civil Code.

Japan, Germany, China, France, Turkey

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists South Korea as: Civil law, Customary. It names the systems in order of importance.

The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.

Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria.

• Supreme Court of Korea (English)
• Constitutional Court of Korea (English)

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.