How Long Does a Trial Take?

We've gathered how long it takes to reach a judgment, by case type. Pick civil, criminal, family, or administrative and see the average processing time for the first instance, the appeal, and the final appeal, plus how long it takes to reach a final, unappealable judgment if a case goes all the way. All figures are public statistics checked against the Supreme Court's Judicial Yearbook, so there's no login and nothing is sent to a server. It's all done right on this screen.

Civil

Criminal

Family

Administrative

Civil (panel division)

A first-instance civil case heard by a three-judge panel because the amount at stake or the issues are substantial

1First instancepanel divisionabout 1y 2mo(437.3d)
2AppealHigh Courtabout 10.3 months(313.8d)
3Final appealSupreme Courtabout 1y 5mo(521.1d)

If a case goes all the way to the final appeal, the average time from the first filing to a final, unappealable judgment is about 3y 6mo (1,271.1d).

Source Supreme Court of Korea, 2025 Judicial Yearbook (figures for 2024, checked 2026-09-03, 표29, 30). Averages vary a lot by case.

How to read these numbers

Processing time is the average number of days from filing to judgment at that court level.
Because it's an average, individual cases vary a lot. More issues or more evidence make it much longer.
Criminal figures are shown for defendants not held in custody, the more common case; figures for defendants in custody are faster and noted separately.
Time to final judgment runs from the first filing to the final, unappealable outcome, so it can stretch to several years across all three levels.

This app does not evaluate any specific judge or court. It only gathers Supreme Court of Korea, 2025 Judicial Yearbook(figures for 2024)averages by case type for comparison. Curious about court procedure? See the Guide to Court Procedure and Timelines.

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