Provisional disposition

Provisional disposition (가처분/假處分) or temporary disposition means a temporary decision of a court for the following purposes:
 * To preserve the status quo with regard to the objects of dispute. It's because, if the existing condition is changed, the party is unable to exercise his rights, or there exists a concern about a substantial difficulty in exercising it; or
 * To fix a temporary position against the disputed relation of right. It is necessary in terms of equity especially in case where intending to avoid a significant damage on a continuing relation of right or to prevent an imminent danger, or where there exist other necessary reasons.

In many cases, a provisional disposition order of a Korean court is similar to a preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. court in terms of equity.

In the United States, a preliminary injunction may be granted before or during trial, with the goal of preserving the status quo before final judgment. To get a preliminary injunction, a party must show that they will suffer irreparable harm unless the injunction is issued.

Key words
provisional disposition, preliminary injunction, equity, civil execution

Statutory ground
Provisional dispositions may be applied for to the competent court as provided for in the Civil Execution Act (민사집행법).

Article 300 (Purpose of Provisional Disposition) of the Civil Execution Act

(1) Provisional dispositions with regard to the objects of dispute may be effected in case where, if the existing situations are altered, the party is unable to exercise his rights, or there exists a concern about a substantial difficulty in exercising it.

(2) Provisional dispositions may also be effected in order to fix a temporary position against the disputed relation of right. In this case, such provisional dispositions shall be effected specially in case where intending to avoid a significant damage on a continuing relation of right or to prevent an imminent danger, or where there exist other necessary reasons.

Equitable remedy
An injunction in English law is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing specific acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction may face criminal charges of contempt of court.

This injunctive power to restore the status quo ante; that is, to make whole again someone whose rights have been violated, is essential to the concept of fairness (equity). For example, money damages would be of scant benefit to a land owner who wished simply to prevent someone from repeatedly trespassing on his land.

These are some common reasons for injunctions:
 * stalking and bullying (in some cases)
 * domestic violence
 * harassment and discrimination
 * physical or sexual abuse
 * the wrongful transfer of real property, also called fraudulent conveyance
 * the disclosure of sensitive information in line with the Official Secrets Act 1989 (UK only)
 * infringement upon intellectual property rights, and trade secret disclosure
 * tortious interference of contract
 * criminal/civil contempt
 * unauthorized practice of law.

Applicable cases
As for a preliminary injunction, the decision whether to grant it or not lies within the sound discretion of the court. So does the provisional disposition in Korea.

Therefore, movant must satisfy a three prong test to establish it is entitled to preliminary injunctive relief:
 * 1) a probability of success on the merits;
 * 2) danger of irreparable injury absent the injunction; and
 * 3) a balancing of the equities favors granting the injunction.

Take an example of fraud rule in letter-of-credit transactions, the issuing bank has only to confirm with due diligence whether the accompanying shipping documents comply apparently with the condition of the letter of credit at issue. Otherwise, if it has sufficient reasons to be dubious of any defect on the writing, forgery of documents or probable fraudulent transactions, the applicant or seller may move for a provisional dispostition, or preliminary injunction, to stop the payment of the documentary credit.