Ministry of Justice: "All Examinees Receive Full Marks on Bar Exam Questions Amid 'Similarity Controversy'"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] The Ministry of Justice has decided to award full marks to all examinees for the bar exam question that caused controversy due to its similarity to lecture materials from Yonsei University Law School.

On the 20th, the Bar Exam Management Committee of the Ministry of Justice announced that, after deliberation to ensure fairness among examinees and the integrity of the exam, it resolved to award full marks without grading for the 'Administrative Law Record Question No. 2.'

Earlier, on the first day of the 10th bar exam held on the 5th, concerns were raised that the administrative law record question among the public law record questions was similar to the mock exam explanation materials distributed in the second semester 'Public Law Litigation Practice' class at Yonsei University Law School.

The controversial question presented a fictional meeting record in which a representative of a Jongjung (ancestral clan) opposed the expropriation of Jongjung-owned forest land by a local government planning to develop a complex district and sought legal consultation from a law firm to file a lawsuit.

The law school explanation materials, which were also subject to similarity concerns, dealt with the process of a local government expropriating Jongjung-owned land, and the legal arguments claiming the invalidity of the land expropriation committee's decision were similarly aligned.

The Ministry of Justice gathered opinions from 13 public law experts from academia and practice, who formed a professional review committee to assess the similarity, and submitted the matter for deliberation on the day. Ultimately, it was decided not to grade the question and to award full marks to all examinees.

Additionally, through an investigation, the Ministry of Justice concluded that a Yonsei University Law School professor who participated in the 2019 bar exam question bank creation violated the pledge made to the Ministry by modifying related materials in their lectures.

Meanwhile, the Bar Exam Management Committee stated, "Regarding issues such as the early termination by one minute in one exam room during the exam administration process and the controversy over allowing underlining in the exam law books, the Ministry of Justice will supplement deficiencies and prepare measures to prevent recurrence in the future."

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