[Breaking] Supreme Court: "Divorced Spouse Can Also File Annulment Lawsuit"... View Changed After 40 Years

Overturning the Second Trial Verdict and Retrial

The Supreme Court's en banc ruling has established that even individuals who have already divorced and dissolved their marital relationship can confirm the nullity of the marriage through litigation against their former spouse.

This marks a precedent change after 40 years since the Supreme Court in 1984 rejected nullity lawsuits from divorced spouses on the grounds that "there is no interest in confirming past legal relationships." It is also the first en banc ruling issued since Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae took office.

On the 23rd, the Supreme Court en banc overturned the appellate court's dismissal of A's claim in the nullity of marriage lawsuit against former spouse B, reversed the first instance ruling that dismissed both A's principal claim (nullity of marriage) and alternative claim (annulment of marriage), and remanded the case to the Seoul Family Court for reconsideration.

The court stated, "Even after the marital relationship has been dissolved by divorce, there is an interest in confirming the nullity of a marriage that existed for a certain period in the past," and explained that "the appellate court's ruling contained a legal error that affected the judgment by misunderstanding the law."

Furthermore, the court said, "This case is sufficient for the Supreme Court to directly adjudicate, so we do so," and "by unanimous opinion of all participating justices, the first instance ruling is canceled and the case is remanded to the Seoul Family Court."

As the basis for this judgment, the court cited that null marriages and divorces have different legal effects under criminal law's kinship exemption provisions and civil law's burden of joint household debts.

A, who married B in December 2001 and had one child, filed for divorce against B in November 2003, two years after marriage. A mediation was reached in 2004, and the divorce was officially registered in October of the same year.

Fifteen years after the divorce, in 2019, A filed a nullity of marriage lawsuit against B. In the complaint, A primarily claimed nullity of marriage on the grounds that the marriage registration was made without substantive agreement due to extreme confusion, anxiety, and coercion that prevented the determination of marital intent. Alternatively, A claimed annulment of marriage, arguing that the marriage registration was made under coercion by the defendant while in a mental state incapable of determining marital intent.

The first instance court dismissed both A's principal claim (nullity of marriage) and alternative claim (annulment of marriage), following the traditional Supreme Court precedent.

In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled in a nullity confirmation lawsuit filed by divorced wife C against her former husband that "a nullity confirmation claim for restoring honor in a dissolved marital relationship has no interest in confirmation."

A appealed, but the appellate court upheld the same judgment.

In the appellate court, A additionally argued that there was an interest in confirming the nullity of marriage because, as a divorced woman on the family register (currently the family relation registration), she was unable to receive various support benefits for single mother families from the state or local governments, thus affecting her current legal relations. However, this argument was not accepted.