[3] The penal code is based on the principle of nullum crimen sine lege (no crime without a law), but remains a tool for political control despite several amendments reducing ideological influence.
[4] Courts carry out legal procedures related to not only criminal and civil matters, but also political cases as well.
Attorneys are not hired by individuals or agencies, but rather the committee collects legal representation requests and then assigns cases and pays remunerations to the assignee.
The Law College at Kim Il Sung University is the only university-level institution that provides legal education.
[8] According to Robert Collins of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, the specific hierarchy of authority in North Korea is the words or personal directives of Kim Jong Un, followed by the Ten Principles for the Establishment of a Monolithic Ideological System, WPK directives —particularly the policy guidance of the WPK Secretariat's Organization and Guidance Department, the WPK Charter and domestic civil laws, and finally the North Korean Constitution.