The meaning of "a single judge, etc." as stipulated in Article 4 of the Rules on Judicial Assistants, etc. concerning a case of final determination of litigation costs (=the court of first instance lawsuit

Article 110(1) of the Civil Procedure Act, Article 4(1) of the Rules on Judicial Assistants

Supreme Court Order 2007Ma634 Decided June 23, 2008 (Gong2008Ha, 1039)

Re-appellant

Daejeon High Court Order 2009Ra43 dated February 17, 2010

The order of the court below shall be reversed and the decision of the court of first instance shall be revoked. The case shall be transferred to Daejeon District Court Panel Division of the Incheon District Court.

Judgment ex officio is made.

Article 110(1) of the Civil Procedure Act provides that the court of the first instance shall decide on the amount of litigation costs. This, by its nature, falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the court of the lawsuit, and the provisions concerning exclusive jurisdiction under the Civil Procedure Act shall not be deemed to have been amended by the provisions of the Rules on Judicial Assistant Officials, and Article 4(1) of the Rules on Judicial Assistant Officials amended by Supreme Court Regulation No. 2187, Jul. 7, 2008, where a case is handled by a single judge or collegiate judge (hereinafter referred to as “a single judge, etc.”) from among the dispositions taken by a judicial assistant under Article 2(1) of the Rules on Judicial Assistant Officials, the court of the lawsuit may file an objection against the disposition subject to appeal, immediate appeal, or special appeal in accordance with the procedures provided in paragraphs (2) through (10). Thus, it is reasonable to view that the “a single judge, etc. of the court of the lawsuit” in Article 4 of the Rules on Assistance to Judicial Assistant Officials’s Disposition as the court of the Daejeon’s case in question’s judgment as to the amount of the Daejeon.

Nevertheless, the court below dismissed the Re-Appellant's appeal on the premise that it is right to authorize the disposition of the judicial assistant on the claim for the determination of the amount of litigation costs by the Daejeon District Court, not the court of the lawsuit on the merits case, and the court below erred in the misapprehension of legal principles as to exclusive jurisdiction.

Therefore, without further proceeding to decide on the grounds of reappeal, the order of the court below ex officio is reversed, the decision of the court of first instance is revoked, and the case is transferred to the Daejeon District Court Panel Division, the competent court of first instance, for a new trial and determination. It is so decided as per Disposition by the assent of all participating Justices on the bench.

Justices Jeon Soo-ahn (Presiding Justice)