- By providing parties an alternative service in response to COVID-19 crisis, family court seeks to manage infectious disease and prevent delays in court procedures.-

Under the current situation where the infectious disease crisis warning level stays “red” and distancing in daily lives continues, the Supreme Court recognizes the severity of the situation and seeks measures to provide untact judicial service considering infectious disease management efforts by the disease control authorities.

In a bid to prevent any delays in court procedures, the Supreme Court produced a video lecture for education in family court as part of the untact procedures that is in line with changes in the environment of the public’s using judicial service. The video lecture for the entire courses is designed for the parties who have to take courses as part of the family proceedings. Family court staff members who are in charge of giving lectures and procedural guide actually participated as lecturers for the video.

The video lecture is composed of 6 courses and 17 lessons: Divorce Agreement Guidelines for the couples going through an uncontested divorce; Guidelines on child-rearing for the couples under an uncontested divorce and for the couples going through a contested divorce; Education for would-be adoptive parents of minor; Education for relative guardians who works as adult guardians; and Education for guardian of minor. All video lectures are uploaded in the YouTube channel, “Supreme Court of Korea”.

The video lecture is meaningful in that family courts consider face-to-face education as the basic procedure, but under the current social crisis such as spread of infectious diseases, such video lecture guarantees people’s right to trial and prevents delays in the court procedures as an alternative measure. From now on, when it comes to face-to face education for the public, courts of all levels will make use of video lectures as alternatives to providing untact judicial service in comprehensive consideration of various elements such as the scope of attendees, physical distancing, and circumstances of the court building.

Also, the Supreme Court expects the production of the video lectures will provide convenience to those parties who had difficulties in attending classes due to disabilities or old age; evoke contents of education, provide well-balanced information to the parties who have already taken face-to-face education courses, and be used as a supplementary material for participation of court procedures.