The Janus-faced court of naturalisation

Marriage and kinship in naturalisation litigation in South Korea

Bibliographic Data

ID3663237
AuthorsNora Hui‐jung Kim (0000-0002-9969-5003, University of Mary Washington, corresponding author), Nora Hui-Jung Kim
Year2016
Volume42
Issue9
Pages1536-1557
Publication date2016-07-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369183x.2016.1145540
OpenAlexW2285377753
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited54

Migration scholars have noted the growing role of the courts in expanding migrants’ rights. Drawing from naturalisation litigation in South Korea for case studies, this article investigates the role of the court in determining national membership. Three main findings are presented based upon an analysis of 105 marriage-based and 36 kinship-based litigations filed against the Ministry of Justice in the Seoul Administrative Court. First, the Court adopts a more liberal interpretation of ‘true intention to marry’ than the Ministry, granting citizenship to those who convincingly perform their roles as dutiful wives. Second, the Court plays a more active role in kinship-based than marriage-based naturalisation, challenging the Ministry's too-narrow interpretation of the requirements. Overall, however, the Court shows strong judicial deference to the Ministry and plays a passive role in advocating for the rights of migrants. The Korean case highlights the need to revisit the tendency to view immigration and citizenship as special classes of public laws, over which administrative and legislative bodies of a government can exercise a significant degree of discretion. As citizenship is becoming an important dimension of social stratification, the judicial branch should serve as a check on the executive branch in issuing visas and granting citizenship

Citizenship · Deference · Discretion · Jurisdiction · Kinship · Naturalisation · Political science · Sociology · Gender and Women's Rights · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration