- Revision to Civil Procedure Rule and Criminal Procedure Rule -

¡á Outline
¢º On June 18, 2020, the Supreme Court of Korea revised part of the Civil Procedure Rule and Criminal Procedure Rule through the Supreme Court Justice Council resolution. Under the revised rule, people with hearing loss will be able to use judicial procedure on a par with people without disabilities by making the state pay for the cost for sign language interpretation for those with hearing or speaking disabilities.
¢º Currently, there is no explicit rule stating the entity to pay for the cost for sign language interpretation for those with hearing or speaking disabilities. There is no consistent way handling it, either. This led people with hearing loss to make payment in advance to get the interpretation service.
¢º On December 12, 2019, the 2nd Advisory Council of Judicial Administration reached a resolution that it is desirable to make the state pay for the cost for sign language interpretation for those with hearing or speaking disabilities by revising part of the Civil Procedure Rule and Criminal Procedure Rule so that those with disabilities can actually participate in the judicial procedure on par with others without disabilities.

¡á Details
¢º Civil Procedure Rule
-The fees for interpretation, stenograph, audio and video recording for the people with hearing or speaking disabilities shall not be paid in advance. [Revision to Civil Procedure Rule Article 19, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 and 3, and Article 33, Paragraph 1]
- The fees for interpretation, stenograph, audio and video recording for the people with hearing or speaking disabilities will be paid by the state and such fees shall not be included as part of litigation cost. [Newly establish Civil Procedure Rule Article 19-2]
¢º Criminal Procedure Rule
- The fees for interpretation, stenograph, audio and video recording for the people with hearing or speaking disabilities will be paid by the state. Such fees shall not be included as part of litigation cost imposed on defendants even if the defendant is ordered to pay for the litigation cost when a sentence is pronounced. [Criminal Procedure Act Article 186~194] [Newly establish Criminal Procedure Rule Title 1, Chapter 15, Article 92-2]
- Even when the court imposes a person who files a motion for a ruling to pay for the trial cost based on the fact that such a motion is without any reason, fees for interpretation service for the people with hearing or speaking disabilities are exempted. [Revision to Criminal Procedure Rule Article 122-2, Subparagraph 1]

¡á Expected result and future plan
¢º It is expected that the right to trial will be more effectively guaranteed, and quality of judicial service will be improved by the state providing the fees for interpretation for sign language for people with hearing or speaking disabilities.
¢º New established rule for detailed procedure to apply for sign language interpretation will be enacted so that a smooth sign language interpretation can be provided.
¢º In the future, improvements on institutions will be consistently made so that everyone can equally be protected and get benefits without any discrimination within the legal framework.