Court-Appointed Defense Counsel Budget Increased by 15.2 Billion Won... Unpaid Compensation of Over 20 Billion Won Expected to Be Resolved

The 2026 budget for general court-appointed defense counsel fees has been increased by 15.17 billion won. With this significant budget increase, it is expected that a substantial portion of the unpaid compensation issues for court-appointed defense counsel will be resolved next year. The National Assembly set the 2026 budget for general court-appointed defense counsel fees at 68.57 billion won when passing the budget. This is an increase of more than 15 billion won compared to the previous year, reflecting both the financial authorities' and the National Assembly's recognition of the need for an increase and their active response.

Photo for article understanding purposes only, unrelated to the content. Pixabay.

The background for this increase lies in the issue of unpaid compensation for court-appointed defense counsel. According to the National Court Administration, over the past five years, the amount of unpaid general court-appointed defense counsel fees has grown significantly: 498 million won in 2020, 476 million won in 2021, 2.815 billion won in 2022, 9.486 billion won in 2023, and 22.566 billion won in 2024. It is reported that the situation has not improved in 2025.

The sharp rise in unpaid court-appointed defense counsel fees is mainly attributed to an increase in criminal trials and mandatory court-appointed defense cases, as well as a rise in criminal cases involving economically vulnerable groups. There has been a substantial increase in cases involving individuals over the age of 70, which are subject to mandatory court-appointed defense under Article 33, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Procedure Act, as well as serious crimes punishable by imprisonment or detention for three years or more, and detention cases.

It is also reported that the number of cases requesting the appointment of court-appointed defense counsel due to economic hardship has been steadily increasing, driven by prolonged social polarization and economic recession. The National Court Administration explained, "After the end of the COVID-19 situation, the normalization of investigations and trials has led to an increase in the number of criminal trial cases received, as well as more cases processed for speedy trials, resulting in higher demand for court-appointed defense counsel." The 2026 budget is expected to help resolve the chronic issues that have accumulated over the years in one stroke. The National Court Administration plans to prioritize the payment of outstanding compensation from the secured budget. In addition, over the long term, it intends to increase the number of dedicated court-appointed defense counsel and strengthen the review of supporting documents related to economic hardship, in order to ensure the proper operation of the court-appointed defense counsel system. There are also opinions in the field that a comprehensive review of the court-appointed defense counsel system is necessary.

One general court-appointed defense attorney commented, "The purpose of the court-appointed defense counsel system is to protect the socially disadvantaged, but in reality, there are quite a few cases where it is not operated in line with that intent. The standard of designating everyone over the age of 70 as eligible for mandatory court-appointed defense without any distinction should be reconsidered to see if it matches current social realities."

An official from the National Court Administration stated, "We will devote our utmost efforts to managing the 2026 budget and will continue to work to secure the necessary budget during the 2027 budget planning process."

Seo Hayeon, Law Times Reporter

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.