[KS] [Hanyang University Korean Legal History Research Center] Publishes Translation of Korean Modern Civil Judgment Documents!

[허지혜]

Greetings,
This is Professor Seung-Il Lee, Director of the Center for Korean Legal
History at Hanyang University.
We are pleased to announce the publication of "Translation of Korean Modern
Civil Judgment Documents"(Volumes 16~30), produced by our center.

This series offers a comprehensive collection of translated civil judgments
from the Korean Empire period, offering valuable insights into the everyday
lives, customs, legal practices, and judicial system of Koreans during that
time. It serves as an important resource for scholars studying Korean legal
history.

Please find the relevant materials attached for your reference.
Thank you.

<Book Description>

Hanyang University Korean Legal History Research Center Publishes
Translation of Korean Modern Civil Judgment Documents!

-Empirical Materials on Korea's Modern Judicial System and Legal Life-

● A comprehensive collection of litigation materials revealing the legal
life and legal culture of Koreans during the modern period.

● Unique source materials for understanding the transition process from
traditional litigation to modern litigation

● Transcription, digitization, and translation into contemporary Korean of
litigation materials to promote Korean legal history research

The Hanyang University Korean Legal History Research Center (Center
Director: Professor Lee Seung-il of the Department of History, Hanyang
Univeristy) has recently published a translation titled "Korean Translation
of Korean Modern Civil Judgment Documents (Volumes 16-30)", which contains
Korea's modern judicial system and legal life. This translation includes
approximately 4,000 civil judgment documents produced from March 1908 to
December 1909, and approximately 500 Japanese civil judgment documents
written by the Japanese Consulate, Commissioner's Office, and
Resident-General's Legal Affairs Department in Korea from the opening of
ports until 1907.

This research was led by Professor Lee Seung-il's research team at Hanyang
University and was conducted from 2018 to 2021 with support from the Korean
Studies Promotion Service of the Academy of Korean Studies. The work was
published in a total of 15 volumes by Minsokwon Publishing.

Until now, modern civil judgment documents have been the only materials
that can provide empirical understanding of Korean legal life and social
conditions through civil trials from 1895 to 1909. However, their research
utilization has been extremely limited because they were written in cursive
script. In particular, academic access was difficult until partial
disclosure in 2008, making this translation publication a groundbreaking
achievement in improving accessibility.

The judgment documents translated this time are records left by
modern-style courts established according to the "Court Organization Law"
enacted in 1907. They include not only judgment documents but also decision
documents, order documents, conciliation records, and interrogation
records. Since civil trials at that time were conducted based on the "Law
of Civil and Criminal Procedure" enacted by Japan in July 1908, they show
distinct differences in procedures and content from previous trials and can
be utilized as core historical materials for comparative studies of the
formation and transformation of colonial judicial systems.

Professor Lee Seung-il stated, "This translation of judgment documents
serves as material that empirically demonstrates legal system changes that
occurred during the transition from traditional litigation to modern
litigation, and will provide an important foundation for research in Korean
legal history and popular life history." He added, "Given that research has
been constrained by original texts written primarily in cursive and
semi-cursive scripts, we expect that this contemporary Korean translation
will stimulate active research in various fields including law, history,
economic history, and social history."

This research involved domestic and international experts in legal history
and Japanese history, including Professor Lee Seung-il (Hanyang University
Department of History), Dr. Lee Myung-jong (Ph.D., Hanyang University
Department of History), Research Professor Jeon Byung-moo
qir(Gangneung-Wonju National University Institute for Humanities Research),
Professor Park Wan (Sookmyung Women's University Department of Japanese
Studies), Dr. Kim Min-seok (Hanyang University Department of History), Kim
Baek Kyoung(Seoul National University School of Law, Ph.D. coursework
completed), Professor Cho Guk (Sungshin Women's University Department of
History), and Ahn Do-hyeon (안도현) (University of Tokyo, Ph.D. coursework
completed), achieving interdisciplinary collaborative research results.



This collection of materials is expected to serve as a groundbreaking
turning point in research on Korea's modern judicial system.
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