대법원의 역할과 상고심 개선의 헌법적 쟁점에 관한 연구 - 상고법원 도입 방안 논의를 중심으로 -

This article focuses on the long-term discussions regarding the improvement of the judiciary system, which aims at the establishment of Court of Appeals designated to deal with appeal cases brought before the Supreme Court, for justices have been bombarded by thousands of cases each year and, nevertheless, only few cases have been decided by all Supreme Court Justices (en banc). Although there can be various ways to make justices less burdened and to decrease the case loads, it would be better off not approaching this matter only in terms of efficiency and expedience for the Supreme Court should undertake constitutional duties and functions to guarantee the right of access to justice. The Supreme Court as the highest court is the last resort to protect the right of people and a policy-making institution, carrying functions to secure unity of law applied to the court cases, to suggest a variety of values, and to make laws concretely applied according with the spirit of the times. In addition, since the judicial power is envisaged to interpret the law and to apply it to the cases in accordance with the provisions and principes of the constitution aimed at protecting fundamental human rights through the law and order mechanism of society, the Supreme Court also can be regarded as a constitutional adjudication institution. In order to solve various constitutional issues when trying to seek for a reform of appeal systems, it is necessary to pursue the effective fulfillment of the Supreme Court's role and function laid down by the constitution. In this regard, this article tries to look into the constitutionality of the proposed Court of Appeals system, arguing whether the Supreme Court should decide each and every case before it, whether the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals violates the relevant constitutional provisions, and lastly whether appointment process of judges of the Court of Appeals is repugnant to the constitutional provisions.