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Era of paper-based criminal trial ends with full digitization of judicial process

Published: 09 Oct. 2025, 13:52 Updated: 09 Oct. 2025, 19:28

Seoul District Prosecutors' Office staff load 137,000 pages of investigative records into a car to be submitted as evidence in the trials of former Presidents Chun Doo Hwan and Roh Tae-woo on April 20, 1996. With the implementation of the electronic criminal litigation system on Oct. 10, this scene of transporting bundles of investigative records to court is expected to become a thing of the past by next year. [JOONGANG ILBO]

The era of paper-based criminal trials will officially end on Friday when Korea’s judiciary launches a new electronic litigation system for criminal procedures, the National Court Administration announced.

This marks the full digitization of Korea’s judicial process nearly 15 years after electronic litigation was first introduced in civil, family and administrative courts. The system was first piloted for patent cases in 2010, expanded to civil cases in 2011 and then to family and administrative cases in 2013.

By 2015, all procedures except criminal litigation had been digitized. A total of 99.9 percent of civil cases filed last year were processed electronically, according to the 2025 Judicial Yearbook.

Until now, criminal cases have only been handled using paper documents submitted in person or by mail. Prosecutors physically transported case files in vans to courts when filing warrant requests, and law firms had to make in-person visits to photocopy court documents before scanning them.

In large-scale cases, just copying the records could take weeks — delaying trials under the excuse that “document copying and review is not yet complete.”

The new electronic litigation system replaces these steps with digital record viewing. Judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys will now be able to simultaneously access and review case files through the system without needing to make physical copies.

All filings — including motions, briefs and appeals — as well as document delivery will now be handled via the electronic litigation website. The system will also be linked to the next-generation Korean Information Service on Criminal Justice System, used by prosecutors and police, to enable the complete digital processing of legal documents. Court rulings have already been issued as electronic documents since Aug. 18.

The gate to the Supreme Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul is seen on Sept. 25. [YONHAP]

The launch of the new system marks the final phase of a six-year digitization effort for criminal procedures. In 2019, the judiciary designated 92 cases at the Seoul Central District Court and the Seoul High Court for a pilot program of digital case file services, kicking off the initiative.

The project gained momentum in 2020 when the Ministry of Justice proposed a bill on the use of electronic documents in criminal justice procedures. The system was originally set to launch on June 9 this year but was delayed once for pretesting and final checks.

The system will apply to all new criminal cases filed after Friday. Existing cases will continue under the paper-based system, meaning that both systems will temporarily coexist before eventually transitioning fully to electronic litigation.

If defendants or related parties wish to submit handwritten letters of apology or petitions, they may still do so in paper form, and the court will scan and upload them into the system.

From Friday to Dec. 14, the National Court Administration will operate a stabilization period in select courts, including the Seoul Eastern District Court, the Seoul Family Court for juvenile protection trials and the Seoul Central District Court for cases prosecuted by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).

Depending on how well the system stabilizes, an interagency consultation will be held in December with related bodies — including the prosecution, police, Coast Guard, CIO and Ministry of Justice — to decide how broadly to expand implementation. Under the current law, all courts must adopt the system by September 2026 at the latest.

The National Court Administration expects over 90 percent of newly filed criminal cases to be processed electronically within a year.

“The immediate challenge is ensuring that both the paper-based and electronic litigation systems function without error,” an official from the administration said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHOI SEO-IN [[email protected]]