JURISDICTION AND APPEALS

A CONSUL COULD hear civil suits involving claims of up to $1,500 by himself and above this level with Assessors. This $1,500 limit proved adequate for all civil claims in Korea and, unlike in Japan, there were no cases in Korea where a Consul sat with Assessors.

After the drafting lacuna in OC1884 had been rectified by OC1886, the Supreme Court acquired an extraordinary concurrent jurisdiction in Korea to hear civil claims; but, unlike in Japan before HMCJ's establishment, the Supreme Court was never called upon to exercise such extraordinary civil jurisdiction.

The Consuls’ civil jurisdiction in Korea was limited (as it was Japan) and the Consuls had no jurisdiction in Admiralty, Lunacy or Matrimonial matters; such jurisdiction being reserved to the Supreme Court. This lack of jurisdiction never caused any problems in Korea for the simple reason that no such cases ever arose – unlike in Japan where the Consuls’ lack of Admiralty jurisdiction had proved problematic until the matter was addressed in 1871 and Lunacy and Matrimonial jurisdiction was conferred upon HMCj in 1879.

The Supreme Court was the appellate body for all appeals from the Courts in Korea. Appeals were permitted as of right where the sums in dispute exceeded $250 but a Court could grant leave to appeal in other cases where it seemed ‘fit and expedient’. In practice, appeals from Japan (and within China itself) were allowed in any case where it seemed just – regardless of the sum in dispute – and we may assume that this would have applied in Korea had a case arisen; but there were no appeals from Korea in civil matters. Only once was an appeal threatened – but the case settled before any appeal.

CIVIL CLAIMS

There are few civil claims recorded against British subjects in Korea and none between two British parties. As with criminal cases, no civil cases involved women as defendants or plaintiffs. Only two civil claims went to trial.

The first debt claim arose before the Treaty had been ratified. It involved a claim by Hariya Kichizo, a Japanese subject in Busan, against Harrison for ¥37 and 70 sen in respect of his lodgings and goods sold on credit and provisions supplied (a very common ground for complaint in Japan, but the only reference to such a complaint in Korea).