Electronic procedure

Electronic procedure (전자소송/電子訴訟) refers to the electronic civil procedure handled by the court on the merits in accordance with the Act on the Use of Electronic Documents in the Civil Procedure, etc. (민사소송 등에서의 전자문서 이용 등에 관한 법률) (abbreviated the "Electronic Procedure Act" or "e-Procedure Act", "전자소송법") effective on May 2, 2011.

Though the Act was promulgated on March 24, 2010, the Act came into force on May 2, 2012 as the courts prepared themselves for the electronic procedure by establishing the Enforcement Regulation of the Act ("e-Procedure Regulation").

Key words
electronic civil procedure, electronic document, service of process, examination of evidence

Main points of the e-Procedure Act
The rapid development of information and communications technologies (ICT) and the increasing use of electronic documents enable the electronic documents to be submitted to the court during the civil procedure and other court proceedings except the criminal procedure. Taking advantage of such electronic procedure, a new ICT-based court procedure could contribute to the enhanced convenience of parties and levelled-up efficiency in dispute settlement, the reduced cost in handling paper-based documents, and further to the development of electronic procedure-related industries.

a. Scope of application (Article 3)
 * This Act is applicable, except the criminal procedure, to the general court procedures, including civil, family, administrative, patent litigations, and civil enforcement and insolvency proceedings and other non-contentious procedure, etc.

b. Civil proceedings based on electronic documents, etc. (Article 5)
 * The parties and their representatives may submit legal documents in an electronic format to the court. The electronic messages made, submitted, serviced by process and maintained pursuant to this Act shall be regarded, unless otherwise specifically provided for by other law, as the documents in terms of requirement and procedure set forth by the Civil Procedure Act.

c. Required registration with the court and submission of electronic documents (Articles 6 and 8)
 * Any person who intends to submit electronic documents is required to register in accordance with the relevant Supreme Court Rule, and any person who consents to the court proceedings based on the computer and telecommunications system is also required in principle to submit the documents in the form of electronic documents.

d. Receipt of electronic documents (Article 9)
 * 전산정보처리시스템에 전자적으로 기록된 때에 접수된 것으로 보도록 하여 전자문서의 접수시기를 명확히 하고, 법원사무관 등은 전자문서가 접수되면 제출자에게 접수사실을 전자적으로 통지하도록 함.

e. Digitalizing of court documents (Article 10)
 * 법관 또는 법원사무관 등은 재판서, 조서 등의 서류를 전자문서로 작성하거나 변환하여 전산정보처리시스템에 등재하여야 하고, 법원사무관 등은 원칙적으로 전자문서가 아닌 형태로 제출된 서류를 전자문서로 변환하고 사법전자서명을 하여 등재하여야 하며, 이 경우 변환되어 등재된 전자문서는 원래의 서류와 동일한 것으로 봄으로써 사건기록을 전자문서로 관리ㆍ보관하도록 함.

f. Electronic service of process or notification (Article 11)
 * 법원사무관 등은 미리 전산정보처리시스템을 이용한 민사소송 등의 진행에 동의한 등록사용자, 전자문서를 출력한 서면 등을 송달받은 후 등록사용자로서 전산정보처리시스템을 이용한 민사소송 등의 진행에 동의한 자, 국가나 지방자치단체 등에 대하여 전자적으로 송달하거나 통지할 수 있도록 하고, 송달할 전자문서가 전산정보처리시스템에 등재된 사실을 송달받을 자에게 전자적으로 통지하도록 하며, 송달받을 자가 등재된 전자문서를 확인한 때에 송달된 것으로 보되, 등재사실을 통지한 날부터 1주 이내에 확인하지 아니하는 때에는 등재사실을 통지한 날부터 1주가 지난 날에 송달된 것으로 간주함.

g. Exceptions for evidence examination, or e-Discovery (Article 13)
 * 전자문서에 대한 증거조사는 전자문서를 모니터, 스크린 등을 이용하여 열람하거나 시청하는 등의 방법으로 하고 그 성질에 반하지 않는 범위에서 민사소송법 제2편제3장제3절부터 제5절까지의 규정을 준용하도록 함.

h. Exceptions for appellate procedure (Article 14)
 * 상고심절차에 관한 특례법 제5조제3항에 따른 판결 원본의 교부, 영수일자의 부기와 날인, 송달은 전산정보처리시스템을 이용하여 전자적인 방법으로 하도록 함.

Some Features of Korean e-Procedure
There are some unique features in the Korean e-Procedure:
 * The court regulations for electronic court filings and electronic service of process are devised only for the Korean civil procedure. There are no imitation at all of any other countries in the world.
 * The electronic procedure regulations have been designed user-oriented. A party of a civil procedure is able to file a lawsuit and court documents electronically using any computer anywhere connected to the Internet if he or she has an electronic authentication certificate.
 * Court documents are also prepared and filed electronically, and serviced electronically. If a court want to make a service court documents electronically, it should upload them using the electronic procedure system and notice it to the parties. When a party accesses the uploaded documents, then the service to this party is completed. For a early implementation of new electronic court filing system into the civil procedure practice, educations for new users are inevitable. The Korean electronic procedure is expected to be fully developed in the near future.

Changed Role of the Courts
With the electronic procedure implemented, the role of the courts has been changed. It is especially worth considering the court's function as a combined civil dispute resolution institute. The court is required to fulfill the followings:
 * First, the court should help a person who is in dispute to find and choose the appropriate means to settle the dispute.
 * Second, the court should diversify the ways to resolve disputes; for instance court-connected alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
 * Third, the court should provide link service with other dispute resolution institutes.
 * Fourth, the court should accumulate and analyze information which are related to dispute resolution. Using this as guiding material, the court should build an automatic counseling system.

These changes in the role of the court could be burdensome in the first stage. Ultimately, however, they will make the procedure of the dispute resolution more efficient.

Electronic Case Filing
Due to the active use of authentication certificates, the exchange or circulation of electronic documents and the enactment of the law for electronic case filing, Korea is getting ready to operate the electronic case filing system. However, the existing electronic case filing system is not based on a systematic standard for electronic documents. In fact, the electronic case filing was active only for some cases by using then available technologies, and there was no clarified system establishing an original copy, an authentic copy and a certified copy of the electronic documents received or produced by courts.

Here is a model for management of electronic documents that can increase efficiency in the submission of electronic documents made, circulated and stored electronically through the electronic document filing system to courts in electronic case filings and in the management of received electronic documents as part of the electronic case records. This will be useful in establishing an electronic case filing system for efficient storage and management of electronic documents in the new electronically filed cases.

The electronic document management system in the electronic case filing system provided in this study will manage the original copy of an electronic document as a form of logical combination of electronic signature value, differentiate the authentic copy and an officially certified copy of an electronic document from its original copy by attaching an electronic signature, and allow that an electronic document without an electronic signature act as a copy. This is expected to help provide courts with the most feasible and appropriate system for filing electronic cases and managing electronic documents and make it possible to operate electronic case filings efficiently.