Improvement Measures on Judge Appointment Process for Judge Applicants with Intermediate Legal Experiences

¡á Background
In pursuance of the judiciary’s effort for the full and effective implementation of the new judge appointment system that accepts judge applicants among experienced legal professionals, there have been rise in the need to improve the judge appointment process.  The new system will require judge applicants to have five or longer years of legal experiences from 2018.  The improvement measures were adopted to motivate the judge candidates to thoroughly focus in their legal profession.

¡á Goal Orientation of the Improvement Measures
   ¡Û Reflect objective evaluations on the proven capabilities and qualifications throughout the applicant’s legal career
   ¡Û Ensure fairness and transparency of the appointment process
   ¡Û Attract application of legal professionals with excellent qualifications and moral character

¡á Specifics of the Improvement Measures
   ¡Û Reflect the evaluation of the Application Document Examination Committee on the legal experience in the application document evaluation process
      - The application documents with descriptive legal experiences will be blind-examined to make comprehensive evaluation on the legal practitioner, with evaluation criteria including the job responsibility, basic legal knowledge, impartiality, expertise, public service, vocational responsibility as a judge, etc.  The Application Document Examination Committee will be comprised of five members of different legal professions including judge, lawyer, law professor and non-legal professional to ensure the objectivity and fairness of the process and to reflect the evaluations made through various perspectives including the citizens with other professions as well as the legal professionals.  Each of the five committee members will independently examine the application form.
   ¡Û Improve evaluation objectivity and reduce the applicants’ anxiety throughout the legal practice performance evaluation process
      - The legal practice performance evaluation process will provide an environment familiar for the interviewees to fully demonstrate their law practising capability.  The improved evaluation process will also ease the discomposure of applicants to spare time to attend the process by minimizing interruption to their current occupation.
   ¡Û Include expertise examination interview in the legal practice performance evaluation process
      - Expertise examination interview was added to the legal practice performance evaluation interview that assesses the capabilities of practicing civil and criminal cases.  The newly added interview will evaluate the overall practical capabilities while minimizing the interruption to their current occupation.
   ¡Û Reference check period changed and strengthened
- The improvement measures will divide the existing ‘midterm screening’ into midterm screenings I and II, and carry out reference checks for those who passed the second midterm screening.

¡á Future Plans
The adopted improvement measures will be effective from the 2016 judge appointment process for intermediate legal experiences.

Official Website for Judge Appointment Process
Available at <http://judges.scourt.go.kr>

¡á Background
The Supreme Court of Korea opened a website for judge appointments that provides detailed description and news on the current judge appointment processes.  The website is expected to contribute to the Judiciary’s goal to improve transparency of the judge appointment procedures.

¡á Website Design
The website provides detailed information on the evaluation methods and criteria for the current judge appointment system.  Under the [Participation and Suggestions] banner are the Frequently Asked Questions and Q&A board to address users’ questions on judicial appointments.
For legal professionals interested in judgeship application, updates on new contents are notified through email upon notification consent when joining the website.

¡á Expected Effects
The new website is expected to strengthen the transparency and fairness of judicial appointment procedures and serve as a gateway to gather public opinions on the new appointment methods.
Legal professionals who joined the website will be provided with the most up-to-date news on judge appointments and detailed information on the evaluation procedures, criteria and processes, thereby improving the expected likelihood of passing the application processes and alleviate the burden of going through the judgeship appointment procedures.