Ministry of Justice Prepares Measures to Eradicate 'Jeongwan Yewoo' in Legal Circles... Maximum 3-Year Restriction on Case Acceptance (Comprehensive)

Prohibition of Telephone Pleading and Strengthening Punishment for Secret Pleading

On the 17th, Lee Yong-gu, Chief of the Legal Affairs Office, announced measures to eradicate preferential treatment for former legal professionals at the 2nd-floor conference room of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul. (Photo by Choi Seok-jin)

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The Ministry of Justice has prepared various measures to eliminate the long-standing malpractice in the legal community known as ‘jeongwan yewoo’ (preferential treatment for former officials), including extending the post-retirement restriction period on case acceptance up to three years and disclosing lawyers’ litigation activities to the parties involved.

The Ministry of Justice plans to institutionalize these measures promptly through amendments to the Attorney-at-Law Act after further gathering opinions from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and the Korean Bar Association.

On the 17th, the Ministry of Justice held a briefing at the second floor conference room of the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, attended by Lee Yong-gu, Legal Affairs Director, Kim Hyang-yeon, Legal Affairs Manager, Shin Seung-hee, Deputy Spokesperson, and Yoon Seong-hoon, Secretary.

The most notable measure among those prepared by the Ministry of Justice is the extension of the restriction period on case acceptance. The Ministry has proposed extending the existing one-year restriction period after retirement to a maximum of three years.

According to the improvement plan, individuals subject to asset disclosure are restricted from accepting cases related to the institutions where they worked for three years prior to retirement for three years after retirement, and those subject to employment review based on institutional duties cannot handle tasks they dealt with for two years before retirement for two years after retirement.

Those subject to asset disclosure include chief prosecutors and high court chief judges, while those subject to employment review based on institutional duties include senior chief judges of district courts, chief prosecutors of high prosecutors’ offices, and deputy chief prosecutors of district prosecutors’ offices.

A Ministry of Justice official explained the background, saying, “While the current restriction regulations have somewhat improved the acceptance of cases from former workplaces by former officials-turned-lawyers, they have been less effective for high-ranking former officials with nationwide influence, and there have been criticisms that the regulations are lenient compared to retired public officials who are not lawyers.”

Article 31, Paragraph 3 of the current Attorney-at-Law Act restricts retired public officials who are lawyers from accepting cases handled by the national institutions where they worked from one year before retirement until retirement for one year after retirement.

On the other hand, the Public Officials Ethics Act restricts first-grade or higher public officials and others subject to asset disclosure from being employed by certain institutions for three years from the date of retirement, or restricts those subject to employment review based on institutional duties from handling tasks related to their former institutions for two years after retirement.

The Ministry of Justice also expanded the scope of punishment and strengthened penalties for so-called ‘secret litigation’ where lawyers represent clients without submitting a prior notice of appointment.

Previously, punishment under the Attorney-at-Law Act required the intent to evade legal restrictions such as tax evasion or acceptance restrictions, and penalties were limited to imprisonment of up to one year or fines up to 10 million KRW.

However, the Ministry’s improvement plan doubles the penalties to imprisonment of up to two years or fines up to 20 million KRW if such intent exists, and even simple secret litigation cases without ‘justifiable reasons’ will be punishable by imprisonment of up to one year or fines up to 10 million KRW.

To eradicate preferential treatment during the investigation stage, the Ministry of Justice decided to generally prohibit telephone litigation. Exceptions will be made only upon request by the chief prosecutor in charge or in urgent circumstances.

Additionally, telephone, visit, or oral litigation by prosecutors to their superiors will be generally prohibited except when urging the exercise of supervisory authority to correct improper exercise of prosecutorial power such as procedural violations.

A Ministry of Justice official stated, “Prosecutors often feel uncomfortable receiving calls from senior lawyers who are former officials, and with these guidelines, they will have a legitimate reason to refuse such calls.”

Meanwhile, to enhance procedural transparency, the Ministry plans to disclose to the parties involved who the lawyer is and what litigation activities were conducted through the Ministry’s Criminal Justice Portal (www.kics.go.kr). Also, in connection with the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s plan to input lawyers and litigation activity details into the Criminal Justice Information System (KICS), an internal network for investigative agencies, the Ministry plans to include whether the lawyer is a former public official.

The Ministry of Justice expects that these measures will prevent abuses where former officials receive high fees without conducting special litigation activities simply because they are former officials.

Other measures include strengthening penalties to eliminate legal brokers, appointing ‘responsible officers for preventing preferential treatment for former officials’ at each prosecution office, establishing a legal corruption reporting center within the Legal Ethics Council, and strengthening disciplinary standards of the Korean Bar Association.

A Ministry of Justice official said, “We will consult with the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office regarding prosecution investigation procedures and promptly propose legislation in cooperation with the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and the Korean Bar Association on parts requiring amendments to the Attorney-at-Law Act.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.