A study on the realization of the right to access judicial services to guarantee the right to claim a trial
Authors:   European Constitutional Law Association, Park Yongsook 
Published: February 2025

In this paper, the discussion on the right to access justice was analyzed and reviewed to actualize the right to claim a trial, which is the basic right of the people. In the modern sense, the content of the meaning has been expanded as an active right to substantially guarantee legal services even for the socially and economically weak, breaking away from the passive right to freedom or defense that there should be no state interference or restrictions in exercising the right to claim a trial. In other words, the right to access justice is not only guaranteed the right to a fair trial that can be easily used by anyone but also acquires a broad meaning that demands that the right to a quick and efficient trial be guaranteed to a practical level by saving the time and cost of the trial. Accordingly, today's well-guaranteed right to access justice is an important indicator for evaluating the realization of the rule of law or the rule of law. Furthermore, to guarantee and realize this, there are not a few factors to be carefully considered at the national level, and to improve the overall judicial system, the public and private interests should be properly punished.
Countries around the world are making great efforts to expand access to justice. Still, in Japan, laws on legal assistance (legal structure) were enacted and implemented in civil lawsuits, and the ｢Comprehensive Legal Support Act｣ was passed in 2004, which was implemented nationwide regardless of civil and criminal areas. This does not just integrate the legal structure in civil and criminal proceedings, but it is important to provide information on legal services and support the people by establishing a network with related organizations to expand access to justice. On the other hand, it is worth noting that the provision of legal services and information supported by public funds using the concept of 'legal support' instead of 'legal aid' is not a beneficial measure by the state, but rather an expression of the ideology of reforming the judicial system that realizes 'rule of law' by emphasizing that it has the status of the sovereign as a subject of basic rights of the people or order formation of a democratic rule of law. In Korea, if an integrated law is to expand such access to justice, it is possible and necessary to prepare a system that can receive state support and judicial services in case of lack of wealth or legal knowledge to actualize the right to claim a trial of the people, who can hold the fundamental right to trial.
In addition to improving the legal system at the national level, it is worth paying attention to the activation of cooperative networks with other related organizations and the establishment and operation of the Judicial Support Center, a public corporation equivalent to an independent administrative corporation. In Korea, the Korea Legal Aid Corporation is established and operated with the contribution of the Ministry of Justice, and in Japan, it is a corporation under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, but the fact that the Supreme Court is closely related to the judiciary and is defined as a corporation that applies the General Regulations Act of Independent Administrative Corporations according to the constitutional view of separation of powers. It is believed that it reveals the organizational legal issues that take into account the meaning and function of judicial access rights. In the future, it is necessary to review the organizational structure and operation of the Korea Legal Aid Corporation in consideration of the purpose and function of its establishment.
Lastly, the autonomy or independence of the judicial administration system is considered to be an important factor in improving the judicial system for the realization of such judicial access rights.