The judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Seoul Central District Court Panel Division.

The grounds of appeal are examined.

The judgment below

In full view of the reasons and various circumstances revealed by the record, the membership fee is paid from the student’s side in relation to the use of the public structure through the establishment of the national university, and it can be seen as having received the “other money due,” which the founder and the manager of the national university can receive pursuant to Article 11(1) of the Higher Education Act.

In addition, since the Higher Education Act was enacted on December 13, 1997, the grounds for receiving tuition fees and other payments are stipulated in Article 11(1) of the Higher Education Act. Thus, since the Higher Education Act was established, it cannot be deemed that the Seoul National University received tuition fees, along with the Defendant’s payment of tuition fees, and the Defendant’s gain from another’s property without any legal ground.

(See Supreme Court en banc Decision 2014Da5531 Decided June 25, 2015). Nevertheless, solely based on the circumstances stated in its reasoning, the lower court determined that the Defendant received membership fees from the Plaintiff without any legal ground and thereby, caused considerable damages to the Plaintiff.

Since such determination by the lower court is contrary to the opinion expressed in the above Supreme Court decision, the lower court erred by misapprehending the legal doctrine of the Supreme Court under Article 3 subparag. 2 of the Trial of Small Claims Act.

Therefore, the lower judgment is reversed, and the case is remanded to the lower court for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion. It is so decided as per Disposition by the assent of all participating Justices on the bench.