The Constitutional Court of Korea is pushing to revise the Constitutional Court Act to overhaul its library operations and strengthen public legal information services, the court said Thursday. The court's library, which opened 38 years ago, currently has no legal basis for its establishment and operation.
"The legal status of the library remains at the level of an 'internal archive' as it was at the time of opening," the Constitutional Court said. "This contrasts with the Supreme Court Library and the National Human Rights Commission's Human Rights Library, which provide external services under legal mandates."
Voices inside and outside the court say that reorganizing the library's operational system is urgent to keep pace with rapidly growing research work and external demand. The bill to legislate the Constitutional Court Library was proposed in October last year and is currently under review by the National Assembly. The need for institutional improvement was also raised during last year's parliamentary audit.
The Constitutional Court Library opened in 1988 with about 1,900 books and had grown to surpass 200,000 volumes as of May this year, establishing itself as the nation's leading specialized library in public law. The library collects, organizes, preserves, and provides information to support constitutional adjudication and research. It was opened to the public in 1997. In particular, since the library moved to the annex building in 2020, the number of visitors has increased tenfold, from an annual average of 1,100 to 11,000. Online use of original materials reached 34,000 cases last year, surging more than 30-fold over the past decade.
The court expects that once legislation is completed, "public legal information services" will become the library's official mission, securing legitimacy and momentum for its initiatives. Through this, the court plans to gradually introduce book lending, which has been restricted, and expand customized specialized content such as "case summaries and commentaries" and "thematic case introductions," while transforming the library into an "open cultural space" through author lectures, book exhibitions, and concerts.
Once the legislation is completed, an accountable management system led by a library director with external representation will also be introduced. Through this, the court aims to promote exchanges with overseas institutions, utilize collected specialized materials for internal research, and strengthen its function as a "global legal information hub."
Kim Sang-hwan, president of the Constitutional Court, said at the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's parliamentary audit in October last year, "We will spare no effort to institutionally resolve operational challenges of the court, including the legislation of the Constitutional Court Library and measures to improve public services at the exhibition hall."
