In the Korean Civil Procedure Act, the court appraisers have institutional significance to supplement judges’ professional knowledge and experience. The appraisal results have a decisive impact on the outcome of the trial. However, a judge may accep...
In the Korean Civil Procedure Act, the court appraisers have institutional significance to supplement judges’ professional knowledge and experience. The appraisal results have a decisive impact on the outcome of the trial. However, a judge may accept the appraisal results as it is, and the unfair or wrong appraisal results of the court appraiser who has no contractual relationship with the litigant may cause damage to the litigant. In particular, it is necessary to efficiently provide relief to litigants who have suffered long-term damage owing to unjust or inaccurate appraisals by unfair appraisers. In practice, the liability for false or inaccurate appraisal by appraisers is negligible. Denying the liability for damages of an appraiser who is unfaithful, without paying attention to the extent to which it significantly violates the trust of the litigants may lead to the result of neglecting the unreasonable appraisal results. Therefore, in this study, the court appraiser's duty of care and the liability of compensation for damages incurred to the litigants owing to unfair appraisal results were examined. In addition, the liability of providing information by experts who have a contractual relationship with the parties and those who do not was summarized.
As a research method, this research was conducted by focusing on the existing literature and precedents. In particular, the appraisal system in general and the appraiser's status and duty of care were examined, and the cases in which appraisal results were excluded from litigation were summarized. The author identified the treatment of appraiser's liability issues in foreign countries, especially in Germany and Japan, and accordingly constructed the appraiser’s liability together with, the theory of liability of appraisers to provide relief to the victims of unfair or inaccurate appraisal. However, considering the doctrine of res judicata, this study primarily intends to analyze the liability of the court appraiser in cases where appraisal results were excluded.
Consequently, it was summarized that there is no choice but to claim damage compensation for tort liability by proving the court appraiser's intention or negligence about illegal appraisal and therefore, the study concludes the following.
First, the court appraiser is merely an assistant who performs the function of virtually assisting the judge in the judgment by means of evidence. In addition, the State is not liable for compensation for illegal acts by appraisers who are not considered the person entrusted with public affairs.
Second, appraisers who assist judges in their judgment are obligated to judge fairly and faithfully in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, and to report accurate and valid appraisal results by applying their expertise and experience to appraisal matters.
Third, even if the judge rejects the unfair and unreasonable appraisal results, it is necessary to recognize the appraiser's liability for compensation for damages to the litigants who have suffered for a long time owing to the appraisal results that lost reliability and validity, and to prevent appraisal malpractice. However, in the Korean Civil Law system, it is difficult to solve the problem by applying the theory of contractual liability to the third person as applicable in Germany. In addition, it is necessary to consider that it is not easy to prove the intention or negligence of the appraiser regarding unfair appraisal. Therefore, based on reliance liability, the author constructed the appraiser's liability theory as a solution.
According to the Civil Act and the Civil Procedure Act, obligations for protection of reliance for litigants can be derived from the duty of good faith that the court appraiser assumes. In particular, if a litigant requiring protection of reliance claims reliance liability as the cause of damages along with tort liability, the center of the debate in the liability of compensation for damages will be discussed as a requirement for “infringement of reliance” that raises an independent issue in the Civil Procedure Act, which is in the public domain, from “violation of the appraiser's duty of care” in tort liability. It may be easy to prove that the appraiser has neglected his basic duty of care for appraisal matters. Such intention or negligence may result in a significant infringement of the reliance of the litigants. It is reasonable to impose reliance liability on the above appraiser. Along with the question of the concept of “reliance worthy of protection,” the author attempted to analyze in a limited manner, however, further research needs to be conducted in the future.