The Law and Society of late Joseon reflected in its lawsuits

Abstract

In this article, the nature and aspects of the Joseon lawsuits are examined in comparison with the Chinese cases. Also examined are the primary perception toward lawsuits in the Joseon society, how the local officials processed the lawsuits(which are described in the lawsuit institution and also the local officials’writings[“Mokmin-seo, 牧民書”]), and the estimated number of actual lawsuits confirmed in a text called 『Minjang Chi’bu-chaek/民狀置簿冊』.<BR> Results of the examination shows that in the local communities during the latter half period of Joseon there were frequent filing of lawsuits among people who were determined to protect their rights and properties. This is a phenomenon similar to the one described in Japanese scholar Huma Susumu(夫馬進, Kyoto University)’s “Litigious Society(訴訟社會)” theory, which counteracted the general assumption regarding the Chinese Ming & Qing dynasties and established that both societies witnessed their fair share of lawsuits. We can assume that a previous belief that the traditional Korean society had a culture wanting to stay away from lawsuits was, as it was in the case of Chinese history, either a misunderstanding or preconception.<BR> The things said above can be summarized into three points.<BR> First, the“Sa/Dae’bu”officials of the Joseon dynasty did not like the notion of lawsuits very much, based upon Confucianism’s general stance of thinking “lawsuits are not desirable(“Mu’song, 無訟”).”<BR> Second,in spiteofsuch primary sentiment toward lawsuits, the government continued to refine the process and relevant institutions concerning lawsuits and courts for practical reasons, and as a result lawsuits continued to serve as an effective method for the people to relay their frustrations to the government or bring private conflicts to public courts, in the latter half period of the Joseon dynasty.<BR> Third, analysis of the 9 regions mentioned in 『Minjang Chi’bu-chaek』 shows a literal ‘flooding’ of civil “Minjang/民狀” petitions.’We can see thatthe Joseon people never hesitated to fight for their rights, and as a result the local officials were under heavy stress and workload to process all those incoming lawsuits.<BR> In short,the fact that the legal system of Joseon was mainly composed of penal regulations designed to control the public does not mean that there were not enough regulations concerning lawsuits and courts, or there was not any legal platform to resolve civil conflicts,or there would have been not that many conflicts and lawsuits among the Joseon people. These preconceptions should all be rectified in the near future.