The law of North Korea (officially called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) is a codified civil law system inherited from the Japanese and influenced by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. It is governed by The Socialist Constitution and operates within the political system of North Korea.

Legal system

North Korea has a codified civil law system, which was inherited from colonial Japan and is similar to South Korea's system. As of December 2015, there were 236 laws and regulations, about half of which relate to economic management. The foreign investment laws are well-developed and up-to-date, and there is a highly developed arbitration system. North Korea has a three-tier court system, based on the Soviet model, comprising a Central Court, provincial courts, and county courts. Judicial affairs are handled by the Central Procurator's Office. The penal code is based on the principle of '' nullum crimen sine lege'' (no crime without a law), but remains a tool for political control despite several amendments reducing ideological influence. Courts carry out legal procedures related to not only criminal and civil matters, but also political cases as well. Political prisoners are sent to labor camps, while criminal offenders are incarcerated in a separate system.

Legal profession

North Korean attorneys must join the Choson Bar Association. The association's Central Committee determines professional standards, as well as the qualifying or disqualifying of attorneys. Attorneys are not hired by individuals or agencies, but rather the committee collects legal representation requests and then assigns cases and pays remunerations to the assignee. However, attorneys do not have a monopoly on providing legal services as anyone might provide representation in civil or criminal proceedings. The Law College at

Kim Il Sung University Kim Il-sung University, founded on 1 October 1946, is the first university built in North Korea. It is located on a campus in Pyongyang, the nation's capital. Along with the main academic buildings, the campus contains 10 separate offices, 50 l ...

is the only university-level institution that provides legal education. For 12 years, Michael Hay was the only foreign lawyer operating in North Korea. He reported winning or partly winning 70% of cases when representing foreign firms.

Law and politics

According to Robert Collins of the

Committee for Human Rights in North Korea The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), formerly known as the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, is a Washington, D.C.-based non-governmental research organization that "seeks to raise awareness about conditions in Nort ...

, the specific hierarchy of authority in North Korea is the words or personal directives of Kim Jong-un, followed by the

Ten Principles for the Establishment of a Monolithic Ideological System Ten Principles for the Establishment of a Monolithic Ideological System (; also known as the Ten Principles of the One-Ideology System) are a set of ten principles and sixty-five clauses establishing standards for governance and guiding the behav ...

, WPK directives —particularly the policy guidance of the WPK Secretariat's

Organization and Guidance Department The Organization and Guidance Department (OGD) is a department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party of North Korea. Its central responsibility is to implement the directives and teachings of the ''Suryeo ...

, the WPK Charter and domestic civil laws, and finally the

North Korean Constitution The Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea () is the constitution of North Korea. It was approved by the 6th Supreme People's Assembly at its first session on 27 December 1972, and has been amended and supplemented ...

. The WPK, while maintaining the dominant political role within the North Korean party-state, came to serve the leader in primacy above all other political entities. As in other communist political systems, the state and society serve the party, and civil laws do not bind the party.Songbun- North Korea's Social Classification System, pg.15
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References

Works cited

External links

North Korea
at the

Law Library of Congress The Law Library of Congress is the law library of the United States Congress. The Law Library of Congress holds the single most comprehensive and authoritative collection of domestic, foreign, and international legal materials in the world. Es ...

Full texts of laws on economy and trade
at

Naenara Naenara () is the official web portal of the North Korean government. It was the first website in North Korea, and was created in 1996. The portal's categories include politics, tourism, music, foreign trade, arts, press, information technology ...

Compilation of Laws and Regulations (For Foreign Investment)

North Korea
at NATLEX ( ILO)
North Korea
at FAOLEX (

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

)
North Korea
at

WIPO Lex WIPO Lex is an online global database launched in 2010, which provides free public access to intellectual property laws, treaties and judicial decisions from around the world. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) maintains and devel ...

Intellectual property laws
at

Korea Computer Center __NOTOC__ The Korea Computer Center (KCC) is the North Korean government information technology research center. It was founded on 24 October 1990. KCC, which administered the .kp country code top-level domain until 2011, employs more than 1,000 p ...

(archived)
Criminal Law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (1999/2009)

"Brushes with the Law: North Korea and the Rule of Law"
at ''Keia.org'' {{Authority control Politics of North Korea Criminal law