Increasing number of school violence administrative lawsuits must be decided with evidence instead of emotion.

Recently, the Seoul Administrative Court increased the number of courts dedicated to school violence from 2 to 4. This measure is in response to a steep increase in the number of related cases filed since the establishment of a dedicated court in 2023. In fact, the number of annual school violence administrative litigation cases filed with the administrative court rapidly increased from 51 in 2022 to 134 in 2025. In effect, the final destination for resolving school violence cases is the court.

Behind the intensifying legal response from parents and students, there is a sense of crisis that the results of the School Violence Review Committee's disposition are directly related to the students' future. Disciplinary records from the Academic Violence Committee under the Office of Education remain in the school records and have a fatal impact on future career paths, including college entrance exams. In fact, out of 3,273 test takers with a confirmed history of school violence in the 2026 college entrance exam, 2,460, or 75%, were found to have failed.

However, recently, there have been frequent cases where even simple fights or misunderstandings have become excessively controversial and resulted in unfairly severe disciplinary action. There was also a case where a playful conversation between classmates led to a transfer, but the court ruled to cancel the decision after reconciliation with the victim was recognized. This suggests that there is a clear opportunity to correct unreasonable dispositions through school violence administrative litigation.

Attorney Kim Dae-won of Daeryun Law Firm (Limited) said, "For a successful school violence administrative lawsuit, it is essential to collect objective and clear evidence from the early stage. First, if you have been unfairly identified as a perpetrator or received excessive disciplinary action, you must focus on proving that the act did not meet the requirements for school violence. Reveal the context of the case through messenger conversation details, factual confirmation from surrounding students, etc., and identify procedural flaws in the school violence committee investigation process and the appropriateness of the level of disciplinary action. “There is a need to argue legally,” he explained.

He continued, "On the contrary, the victim student side must prevent secondary damage caused by the offending student's rash punishment or the school's lukewarm response. They must persuade the court by asserting the illegality of the existing disposition based on objective data such as hospital medical certificates and psychological counseling records."

Attorney Kim Dae-won said, "What is important to note is that the effect of disciplinary action is not suspended just by filing a lawsuit. In order to prevent disciplinary action from being implemented or recorded in the school record during the lawsuit period, an 'application for suspension of execution' must be filed in parallel with an administrative lawsuit. All irreparable damage that will occur due to the disposition and the impact on public welfare must be disclosed in detail, and the possibility of winning the claim on the merits must be fully explained in accordance with the recent Supreme Court decision 2025mu565. In the application for suspension of execution, He said, “Elaborate preparation equivalent to that of a lawsuit on the merits is required.”

He continued, "School violence administrative litigation is a serious legal dispute with a clear burden of proof. If you want to cancel or reduce disciplinary action, you must exclude subjective emotional responses. Collection of evidence based on facts, consistent statements, and systematic response according to legal procedures are the only sure ways to protect the future of students."

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