"Difficult Even to Reach the Defendant's Seat"... Supreme Court's Promise to Lower Barriers for Disabled Remains Empty Words

Last Year's Wheelchair Use Guidelines
Still Difficult to Reach Defendant's Seat
2019 Constitutional Petition Still Under Review

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] #. Mr. A, who was indicted on charges of causing injury by pushing an elderly woman while riding a powered wheelchair into a subway elevator, appeared in court at the Seoul Central District Court on the 13th to deny the charges. However, an awkward situation occurred as the powered wheelchair got stuck in the narrow gap of the wooden fence that separates the defendant's seat from the gallery. He awkwardly smiled, saying "It's okay. I can do it," and after struggling for several tens of seconds, scraping and bumping the fence with the wheelchair, he was able to enter the defendant's seat. This scene was repeated when leaving the courtroom after the trial.

Last year, the Supreme Court's Court Administration Office revised the "Guidelines for Judicial Support for Persons with Disabilities" for the first time in six years. The Supreme Court included in the guidelines the recommendation from the Research Group on Judicial Support for Persons with Disabilities that "each court should gradually design spaces such as the parties' seats, witness stands, gallery, judge's bench (bar), prosecutor's seats, and lawyer's seats to be accessible by wheelchair."

Although a year has passed since the revision, persons with disabilities do not feel the difference. Lawyer Park Seongmin of Law Firm LF said, "District courts and prosecution branch offices are still difficult for persons with disabilities to access." He added, "Since COVID-19, court doors that used to open on both sides are now opened only on one side," and "Because the gallery seats are tightly packed, if only one door is opened, sometimes one has to go up a step instead of a ramp to reach the defendant's seat."

In July 2019, Lawyer Park filed a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court, stating that "elevators and restrooms and other convenience facilities for persons with disabilities are insufficient in courts, detention centers, prosecution offices, and police agencies." This case has not yet been concluded. He said, "Some of the respondents have submitted written answers to the Constitutional Court, but since then, the situation has been stagnant." Regarding this, a Constitutional Court official explained, "On August 13, 2019, the case was referred to the full bench," and "Currently, the full bench of the Constitutional Court is conducting hearings and other procedures."

Article 26, Paragraph 4 of the current Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities stipulates that "public institutions and their members must provide judicial and administrative procedures and services so that persons with disabilities can use them at a substantially equal level to persons without disabilities, and must provide reasonable accommodations for this purpose." A Supreme Court official said, "At the end of last year, a policy research project was underway to investigate the actual conditions of judicial support for persons with disabilities in courts at all levels and to find improvement measures, but the results have not yet been released," and added, "Once the results come out, we will review them and make plans for improvement."

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