Summary
After 1990, Korea has been generalized with the work process by using the computer in accordance with the computer dispersion, expansion of the Internet network, and the remarkable advancement of information technology, and in order to improve the efficiency of work process, the administrative branch and the judiciary branch have actively undertaken the introduction and development of the information system. In light of this development, the Constitutional Court of Korea (the "Constitutional Court") positively utilized the information technology to apply in the affairs, and it expanded the information providing service to the public by using the homepage to support the of affairs relating to constitutional adjudication in a way of contributing to the enhancement of the image of the Constitutional Court to the general public.
Contents
For the smooth undertaking of the informatization in the constitutional adjudication, the Constitutional Court has set the goals in "enhancing the quality of service provided to public", "informatization of affairs relating to the constitutional adjudication" and "strengthening capability of entire employees in obtaining informations", and has been undertaking the informatization project on a continuous basis.
a. Promotion of informatization project
Pursuant to the basic plan for computerization promotion that was established in 1995, it went through the basic stage where the computer supply was expanded and the document preparation was generalized by using the computer, and in 1998 it opened the Internet homepage for the first time in partially introducing the information system, such as, case search and others.
Thereafter, while undertaking the full-scale information project from 2002, it began to structure the necessary information system, and has undertaken the informatization project with reference to the master plan for the informatization in the constitutional adjudication(ISP) that was established on the same year. Following is the contents of the budget for informatization for the recent five years.
b. Introduction of information system
In order to support the consitutional adjudication, the information technology has been utilized to structure the information system in sequence for the essential works, and the work process has been efficiently improved and the public service has been also continuously improved. Following is the contents of introduction for the information system for each year.
| Year | Major information system |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Establishment of knowledge information management system Introduction of backup and dual solution |
| 2007 | Establishment of e-civil service center Original printout system |
| 2008 | Electronic Service of the proceeding document |
| 2009 | Establishment of Electronic Filing System |
| 2010 | Establishment of Record Management System |
| 2011 | Establishment of Cyber Security Center |
| 2012 | Establishment of Integrated Search System |
c. Expansion of information infra
In order to maximize the facilitation of computer affairs, computers have been supplied for the one-person 1-PC (2003) system, and for the flawless communication with the information system, the computers have been replaced with the upgraded computer for each stage. In addition, in order to link the internal affairs, the intranet (LAN) was set in 1996, and the network equipment has been introduced. Furthermore, for the homepage service and internal use of Internet, the cable was placed for two lines with the continuing increase as needs arise.
Major information system
The Constitution Court has been introducing the relevant information system by working on the informatization on step-by-step approach for the adjudication affairs, and through the introduced system, the efforts have been placed for the improvement of services to provide information to the public through the electronic work disposition system and its homepage. Such efforts would provide the foundation of the electronic-Constitution Court to be realized consequently in the future.
a. Disposition system of the constitutional adjudication(CCourt BPM)
In 2002, from the filing of the case in the constitutional adjudication to the sentencing of the decision, various internal affairs are automated by using the BPM solution. The affairs of the disposition system of the adjudication of constitutionality are automated on the basis of the process design, gathered case information generated and collected from the filing of the cases, and, once the work processing of each process is completed, and it is automatically delivered to the person in charge of already defined process.
In order to determine the chief judge of each filed case, each process uses the random function to link to the sub-program, such as the developed auto assignment program, to collect and save various documents in addition to the case information when the sentencing for each case is rendered. Following is the defined process configuration chart
b. Electronic document system for constitutional adjudication
The electronic document system was introduced to the court proceedings for the first time in Korea since 2005, and the electronic document system allows the work process of documentation involved in the court proceedings, such as, plan, approval, review, distribution, record management and others, to use and dispose by using the electronic document, and it was the starting point of electronic use of the case records. In addition, some of the documents involving in the of constitutional adjudication use the government's high speed network to deliver electronically to gain substantial result. Along with the effort, the administrative electronic document system was structured in 2002 to make the electronic approval in the administrative affairs and has been in use since.
c. Storage for electronic cases and records
The case records related to the constitutional adjudication from 2002 have been sequentially electronically processed to structure the pertinent data base. From October 2002, the documents filed have been scanned to structure the image data base to make reference to the work affairs, and in 2005, all case records that are closed since the opening of the Constitution Court in 1988 to set up the image data base, and from the later part of 2005, all adjudication documents generated within the Court have been structured on data base in the form of e-document by using the electronic document system for constitutional adjudication to complete structuring of the data base of all case records of the constitutional adjudication electronically. Accordingly, by utilizing the disposition system of the constitutional adjudication and the electronic document system for constitutional adjudication, the electronic record has been saved and managed simultaneously with the work processing of the cases, and this is likely to be the first case to materialize the complete electronic record in Korea.
d. information on constitutional adjudication
In order to render a decision on a case involving constitutionality issue, various information have to be referred to, and there is a need of gathering diverse information ranging from the precedent cases, case record, research report, various documents, pertinent laws and regulations, relevant court cases and others. For this purpose, the case search system has been structured and operated from 1998 and expanded the data base to search from 2002, and improved the search efficiency by introducing the search engine from 2004, and introduced the integrated Meta search system to search the outside information in 2006. In addition, continuous efforts have been placed to expand the specialized and comprehensive data base related to the constitutional adjudication within the system.
e. Operation of homepage
With the purpose of transparent disclosure of affairs relating to the constitutional adjudication and publicize the image of the Constitution Court, the Internet homepage was first opened in 1998. Since then, through the substantial service improvement, revisions have been made approximately in every two years.
It was originally configured with the Korean homepage and the English homepage, and in 2005, the specialized sub-homepages, the library of the Constitution Court and the Practical Research Society of the Constitutional Law, were opened and expanded, and in 2007, sub-homepages of E-Civil Service Center and Children's Homepage were additionally opened.