Open Decision Ledger · Constitutional, administrative & state liability
Cancellation of a registered seal as an appealable administrative disposition
Supreme Court, Apr. 2, 2026, 2025Du35330 (judgment)
Case name: 인감직권말소처분무효확인[인감 직권말소가 행정처분임을 주장하며 무효확인을 구하는 사건]
Official text on the National Law Information Center
Question
Is the certification office's ex officio cancellation of a registered seal an administrative disposition that may be the object of appeal litigation, and does the plaintiff have a legal interest in having it declared invalid?
Holding
Yes on both points. Whether an authority's act may be the object of appeal litigation cannot be decided in the abstract; it must be decided case by case, weighing the content and purpose of the related statutes, the actor, content, form and procedure of the act, its substantial connection with the disadvantage suffered by interested parties, and the principle of lawful administration together. Because registration of a seal is a precondition for using the seal certificate system and is closely bound up with the applicant's substantive legal relations, cancelling a registered seal also affects the people's legal relations and is an administrative disposition. Once a judgment confirming that cancellation unlawful or void becomes final, the certification office must take measures such as restoring the seal, so the plaintiff has a legal interest unless special circumstances exist.
Summary of the holding, verbatim
인감의 등록은 인감증명제도를 활용하기 위한 전제요건으로서 해당 인감 출원자의 실체적 권리관계에 밀접하게 관련되어 있으므로, 증명청이 인감증명서 발급신청을 거부하는 행위뿐 아니라 등록된 인감을 말소하는 행위도 국민의 권리관계에 영향을 미치는 것으로서 항고소송의 대상이 되는 행정처분에 해당한다.
Unofficial English translation
Since the registration of a seal is a prerequisite for making use of the seal authentication system and is closely related to the substantive rights of the applicant for the seal, not only an act by which the certification office refuses an application for issuance of a seal authentication certificate but also an act canceling a registered seal affects the rights of the people and therefore constitutes an administrative disposition that may be the subject of appeal litigation.
Disposition
Partly reversed and remanded Stated in the decision
원심판결 중 인감직권말소처분의 무효확인청구 및 부존재확인청구 부분과 손해배상청구 부분을 파기하고, 이 부분 사건을 서울고등법원에 환송한다. 원고의 나머지 상고를 기각한다.
Unofficial English translation
The parts of the judgment of the court below concerning the claims for confirmation of invalidity and confirmation of non-existence of the disposition of ex officio cancellation of the registered seal and the claim for damages are reversed, and this part of the case is remanded to the Seoul High Court. The remainder of the plaintiff's final appeal is dismissed.
Form of the test
Circumstances weighed Stated in the decision
구체적인 경우 행정처분은 행정청이 공권력의 주체로서 행하는 구체적 사실에 관한 법집행으로서 국민의 권리의무에 직접적으로 영향을 미치는 행위라는 점을 염두에 두고, 관련 법령의 내용과 취지, 그 행위의 주체·내용·형식·절차, 그 행위와 상대방 등 이해관계인이 입는 불이익과의 실질적 견련성, 그리고 법치행정의 원리와 당해 행위에 관련한 행정청 및 이해관계인의 태도 등을 참작하여 개별적으로 결정해야 한다.
Unofficial English translation
In a concrete case, keeping in mind that an administrative disposition is an enforcement of law concerning concrete facts carried out by an administrative agency as the subject of public authority and is an act that directly affects the rights and duties of the people, it must be determined individually, taking into account the content and purport of the relevant statutes and regulations, the subject, content, form, and procedure of the act, the substantial relevance between the act and the disadvantage suffered by the counterparty and other interested persons, and the principle of administration under the rule of law and the attitudes of the administrative agency and the interested persons in relation to the act in question.
Factors
- 관련 법령의 내용과 취지, 그 행위의 주체·내용·형식·절차
- 그 행위와 상대방 등 이해관계인이 입는 불이익과의 실질적 견련성
- 법치행정의 원리와 당해 행위에 관련한 행정청 및 이해관계인의 태도
- 인감증명은 인감 자체의 동일성을 증명함과 동시에 거래행위자의 동일성과 거래행위가 행위자의 의사에 의한 것임을 확인하는 자료로서 일반인의 거래상 매우 중요한 기능을 수행하고 있다
- 인감의 등록은 인감증명제도를 활용하기 위한 전제요건으로서 해당 인감 출원자의 실체적 권리관계에 밀접하게 관련되어 있으므로
Unofficial English translation
• The content and purport of the relevant statutes and regulations, and the subject, content, form, and procedure of the act
• The substantial relevance between the act and the disadvantage suffered by the counterparty and other interested persons
• The principle of administration under the rule of law and the attitudes of the administrative agency and the interested persons in relation to the act in question
• A seal authentication certificate, while certifying the identity of the seal itself, at the same time serves as material confirming the identity of the person engaging in the transaction and that the transaction act was made in accordance with the will of the actor, thereby performing a very important function in the transactions of ordinary persons
• Since the registration of a seal is a prerequisite for making use of the seal authentication system and is closely related to the substantive rights of the applicant for the seal
Relation to precedent
Follows earlier decisions Stated in the decision
대법원 1992. 1. 17. 선고 91누1714 판결(공1992, 916)
Unofficial English translation
Supreme Court Decision 91Nu1714 decided January 17, 1992 (Gong 1992, 916)
Decisions referred to
대법원 1992. 1. 17. 선고 91누1714 판결(공1992, 916), 대법원 2008. 7. 24. 선고 2006다63273 판결(공2008하, 1223), 대법원 2010. 11. 18. 선고 2008두167 전원합의체 판결(공2010하, 2279), 대법원 2025. 5. 15. 선고 2024두35989 판결(공2025하, 1086)
Burden of proof
Not addressed Not in the decision
Open question and revisit condition
When a judgment confirming the invalidity of the ex officio cancellation becomes final, what procedure may the plaintiff use if the certification office does not restore the seal?
The Seoul High Court's remand judgment on the invalidity, non-existence and damages claims will show how the administrative disposition test and the legal interest requirement apply to this cancellation. An amendment to the Administrative Litigation Act permitting a mandatory performance suit, or a later decision on legal interest in a seal-related act, would require this entry to be read again.
Cross-family AI independent reading & axis check
7 of 8 axes matched GPT-6 Astra (OpenAI, codex CLI) · 2026-10-24
A reader from another model family (GPT-6 Astra), given the official text but not the primary reading, agreed on 7 of the 8 axes; the readings differed on axis 8 (open question and revisit condition).
Axis 8 (Open question and revisit condition): Primary “When a judgment confirming the invalidity of the ex officio cancellation becomes final, what procedure may the plaintiff use if the certification office does not restore the seal?” vs Independent “What defects in an ex officio cancellation of a registered seal would establish its invalidity or support a damages award?”
The primary asks how to obtain restoration after a final invalidity judgment, whereas the independent asks which defects establish invalidity or damages liability.
인감의 등록은 인감증명제도를 활용하기 위한 전제요건으로서 해당 인감 출원자의 실체적 권리관계에 밀접하게 관련되어 있으므로, 증명청이 인감증명서 발급신청을 거부하는 행위뿐 아니라 등록된 인감을 말소하는 행위도 국민의 권리관계에 영향을 미치는 것으로서 항고소송의 대상이 되는 행정처분에 해당한다.Raw responses and comparison record: Protocol · Blind readings (JSONL) · Axis comparison (JSONL) · SHA-256 (JSON)
Lower-court contrast & scope of application
Lower-court reading vs. Supreme Court holding
Lower-court context: The Seoul High Court, in its judgment of 2 October 2025 (2025Nu6390), held that the seal register under the former Act on Seal Certificates is kept for administrative convenience and as material proving facts, so changing or deleting its entries does not alter the applicant's substantive legal relations. It therefore held that the ex officio cancellation was not an administrative disposition, and that the plaintiff, who re-registered resident registration after permanent return, had no legal interest in a declaration of invalidity. The claim to restore the cancelled seal was, in its view, a mandatory performance suit not allowed under the current Administrative Litigation Act.
Supreme Court standard: The Supreme Court held that the court below had misunderstood the law on administrative dispositions and on legal interest. Under Article 30(1) and Article 38 of the Administrative Litigation Act, a final judgment confirming the cancellation unlawful or void binds the certification office, which must then take measures such as restoring the seal, so absent special circumstances the plaintiff has a legal interest. It distinguished Supreme Court Decision 2000Du2136, relied on below, as a case about the legal interest in confirming invalidity of the act of issuing a seal certificate, so that it was not appropriate to rely on it here, reversed and remanded the invalidity, non-existence and damages claims, and found no error in the lower court's treatment of the restoration claim.
Distinguishing conditions
- A claim that the authority itself restore the cancelled seal, which the lower court held to be a mandatory performance suit not allowed under the current Administrative Litigation Act and which the Court left undisturbed.
- A case in which special circumstances show that a declaration of invalidity would bring the plaintiff nothing, so that no legal interest exists.
- A dispute about the act of issuing a seal certificate itself, where legal interest in confirming invalidity must be judged on its own terms.
Record verification notes
Separate the acts at issue: the Court treated the refusal to issue a seal certificate and the ex officio cancellation of the registered seal as administrative dispositions, and found no error in the lower court's treatment of the restoration claim as a mandatory performance suit not allowed under the current Act. Then check what measures the certification office could still take for the plaintiff's own status, here an overseas Korean who re-registered resident registration after permanent return, because the legal interest rests on the binding force of the confirming judgment.
From the official text
Points at issue
행정청의 행위가 항고소송의 대상이 될 수 있는지 결정하는 방법 / 증명청이 인감증명서 발급신청을 거부하는 행위 및 등록된 인감을 말소하는 행위가 항고소송의 대상이 되는 행정처분에 해당하는지 여부(적극)
Unofficial English translation
The method for determining whether an act of an administrative agency may be the subject of appeal litigation / Whether acts by which the certification office refuses an application for issuance of a seal authentication certificate and cancels a registered seal constitute administrative dispositions that may be the subject of appeal litigation (affirmative)
Summary of the holding
행정청의 어떤 행위가 항고소송의 대상이 될 수 있는지의 문제는 추상적·일반적으로 결정할 수 없고, 구체적인 경우 행정처분은 행정청이 공권력의 주체로서 행하는 구체적 사실에 관한 법집행으로서 국민의 권리의무에 직접적으로 영향을 미치는 행위라는 점을 염두에 두고, 관련 법령의 내용과 취지, 그 행위의 주체·내용·형식·절차, 그 행위와 상대방 등 이해관계인이 입는 불이익과의 실질적 견련성, 그리고 법치행정의 원리와 당해 행위에 관련한 행정청 및 이해관계인의 태도 등을 참작하여 개별적으로 결정해야 한다. 인감증명은 인감 자체의 동일성을 증명함과 동시에 거래행위자의 동일성과 거래행위가 행위자의 의사에 의한 것임을 확인하는 자료로서 일반인의 거래상 매우 중요한 기능을 수행하고 있다. 인감의 등록은 인감증명제도를 활용하기 위한 전제요건으로서 해당 인감 출원자의 실체적 권리관계에 밀접하게 관련되어 있으므로, 증명청이 인감증명서 발급신청을 거부하는 행위뿐 아니라 등록된 인감을 말소하는 행위도 국민의 권리관계에 영향을 미치는 것으로서 항고소송의 대상이 되는 행정처분에 해당한다.
Order
원심판결 중 인감직권말소처분의 무효확인청구 및 부존재확인청구 부분과 손해배상청구 부분을 파기하고, 이 부분 사건을 서울고등법원에 환송한다. 원고의 나머지 상고를 기각한다.
Unofficial English translation
The parts of the judgment of the court below concerning the claims for confirmation of invalidity and confirmation of non-existence of the disposition of ex officio cancellation of the registered seal and the claim for damages are reversed, and this part of the case is remanded to the Seoul High Court. The remainder of the plaintiff's final appeal is dismissed.
Provisions referred to
행정기본법 제2조 제4호, 행정소송법 제2조 제1항 제1호
Read 2026-10-24 · Cross-read 2026-10-24. All quotes matched against the official text. The Chinese-character placeholders the court used for anonymised parties are given in their Korean readings, and parenthetical Chinese-character glosses are omitted.
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