Home > About Our Court > History      History       The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Korea is the pillar of the constitutional system of Korea today. Its establishment was brought forth by the deep enthusiasm of the people, in order to uphold the Constitution, protect basic rights, and provide special procedures for adjudication of constitutional issues. Although the Republic of Korea has always had some form of a constitutional litigation or judicial review system, it had shifted with change of each regime until the Constitutional Court was finally established in 1988. The prototypes include: the Constitutional Committee of the First Republic (1948-1960), Fourth Republic (1972-1981) and Fifth Republic (1981-1988); the Constitutional Court of the Second Republic (1960-1961); and the American style judicial review system of the Third Republic (1961-1972). None of these constitutional systems was very active, and some of them were merely ornamental. The Second Republic Constitution, for example, was never actually implemented due to a sudden military coup d'etat, even though the provisions were already set and the Constitutional Act had been enacted. The drafters of the Constitution who provided for the establishment of the Constitutional Court agreed that they must create a new, revitalized Constitutional Court, in the spirit of the Principle of the Rule of Law, which will bring about a more democratic, free society. Today, the Constitutional Court is an embodiment of Korea's spirit of loving peace, persevering and observing traditions, all of which is realized through the active functioning of the Constitutional Court.           You can find more information at our website(http://english.ccourt.go.kr.)

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