The Seoul Administrative Court has dismissed the administrative lawsuit filed by Inha University Law School, which contested the “temporary non-accreditation” evaluation decided by the Legal Education Evaluation Committee of the Korean Bar Association. The court’s administrative division determined that the lawsuit filed by the Jeongseok Inha Educational Foundation against the Bar Association’s Law School Evaluation Committee was inadmissible.
A dismissal in legal terms is a decision to end a case without examining its merits due to its inadmissibility. The court ruled that the evaluation by the Bar Association’s committee does not qualify as an “administrative disposition” that can be subjected to litigation, making the lawsuit itself inadmissible.
The evaluation committee assessed 25 law schools across the nation from September to December 2022. In January of the following year, they notified Inha University Law School that it was temporarily non-accredited, citing inadequacies in two out of five evaluation areas, specifically involving students and faculty. However, it was noted that these issues could be addressed within a year.
In response, the Jeongseok Inha Educational Foundation, which operates Inha Law School, filed an administrative lawsuit in March of this year, claiming the evaluation was unfair. Nonetheless, the court concluded that the evaluation did not affect any specific rights or obligations of the plaintiff, thus did not qualify as an administrative disposition subject to an appeal lawsuit. Therefore, the court dismissed the lawsuit without examining the school’s claims.
The evaluation committee’s assessments do not influence the approval, cancellation, alteration of approval, or adjustment of student quotas for law schools. Additionally, schools are not obliged to submit rectification or supplementary results to the evaluation committee or the Minister of Education.
The court also ruled that even if the evaluation results, once publicly announced, potentially harm the law school’s image or trust, resulting in negative effects, these consequences are merely indirect. Despite the ruling, the Jeongseok Inha Educational Foundation has appealed the decision, and the case will be reviewed by the Seoul High Court.
(Photo = Yonhap News)