The Development of Judicial Precedents of the Supreme Court on the Interpretation of Definition of the term ‘Farmland’ in Farmland Act and Some Issues Concerned Explanatory and Critical Notes to the Decision of ‘the Supreme Court 2021.8.19. sentence 2020두30665’

Abstract

This article is aimed to survey the development of judicial precedents of the Supreme Court on the interpretation of definition of the term ‘farmland’ in Farmland Act and give some critical comments to the decision of ‘the Supreme Court 2021. 8. 19. sentence 2020두30665’. The author would like to indicate some issues on definition of the term ‘farmland’ and try to find some possible way out. The 1st chap. is introduction, and the 2nd chap. will look into the purpose of Farmland Act & basic ideology concerning farmland according to stipulated provisions in the text, will indicate the indistinction of meaning of definition of the term ‘farmland’ and its historical development, and try to confirm the tradition of present condition test of ‘farmland’. The 3rd chap. is a main chap. of this article, will survey the development of judicial precedents of the Supreme Court on the interpretation of definition of the term ‘farmland’. Main contents are as follows: judicial decisions on ‘farmland’ or not according to the Farmland Reform Act 1949, decisions which affirm or deny the ‘farmland’ on farmland preservation charges, decisions on unlawful diversion of farmland, and decisions on being ‘farmland’ as a required condition of issuance of qualificationc certificates for acquisition of farmland. The 4th chap. will search the subtle changes of three recent judicial decisions. Main contents as follows: the critical comments on the last decision i.e. ‘the Supreme Court 2021. 8. 19. sentence 2020두30665’, including the details of the case, judgments of first trial & second trial, reversal of the Supreme Court, results of reversal, and author’s critical review on it. The 5th chap. is conclusion of this paper, will point out some important points why men contest at law whether being farmland or not, and suggest some possible alternative ideas.