Criminal, single judge (not in custody) Processing Time

A general first-instance criminal case heard by a single judge, figures for a defendant not held in custody. Below is the average time from filing to judgment at each court level.

  1. 1First instance115.2 days if in custodyabout 6.2 months(189.2d)
  2. 2AppealDistrict Court (100.5 days if in custody)about 9.4 months(286.4d)
  3. 3Final appealSupreme Court (43.2 days if in custody)about 3.1 months(95.1d)

If contested all the way to the final appeal, the average time from the first filing to a final, unappealable judgment is about 1y 7mo (584.3d).

Source Supreme Court of Korea, 2025 Judicial Yearbook (figures for 2024, checked 2026-09-03, 표114, 115). Averages vary a lot by case.