Migration Jurisprudence from the South › South Korea
Indefinite immigration detention
Constitutional Court of Korea · South Korea · 2023-03-23 · National court
Citation: 2020Hun-Ka1
Type of case: Constitutional and human rights
Outcome: Decided for the migrant side
Question
Is detention of foreigners under the Immigration Act without any upper time limit constitutional?
What the court decided
No. The provision was found incompatible with the Constitution for lacking a time limit and independent review; Parliament was given until May 2025 to amend it.
In plain language
Korea could keep foreigners in immigration detention with no time limit. The Constitutional Court said this was unconstitutional and told Parliament to fix the law.
Dalam bahasa sederhana
Korea bisa menahan orang asing di detensi imigrasi tanpa batas waktu. MK menyatakan ini inkonstitusional dan meminta parlemen memperbaiki UU.
Pertanyaan: Apakah penahanan orang asing menurut UU Imigrasi tanpa batas waktu konstitusional?
What happened afterwards
- 2023-03-23: Decision of incompatibility.
- 2025-05: Deadline for amendment. [Check whether met.]
Sources
Open this decision in the interactive collection (compare, filter, Indonesian view, downloads).
Cite as: Institute for Migrant Rights (2026), Migration Jurisprudence from the South, version 0.1, https://theimr.org/court-decisions/d/kr-detention-2023/. This page summarizes a court decision for research and advocacy; it is not legal advice.