‘Up to 3 Years of Case Acceptance Restriction’ Lawyer Act Amendment Passed at Cabinet Meeting... To Be Submitted to the National Assembly on the 2nd of Next Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The restriction period for retired ‘jeongwan (former officials)’ lawyers who have left public office such as courts or prosecutors’ offices will be extended from the current 1 year to up to 3 years.

In addition, penalties for covert litigation without submitting a power of attorney will be strengthened, and regulatory measures against legal brokers will also be established.

The Ministry of Justice announced on the 29th that the amendment to the Attorney-at-Law Act containing these provisions has passed the Cabinet meeting. The Ministry plans to submit the amendment to the National Assembly on the 2nd of next month.

The amendment differentiates the restriction on accepting cases handled by the national agency where the retired official worked from 1 year before retirement until retirement, which currently prohibits acceptance for 1 year after retirement, to a graduated restriction of 1 year, 2 years, or 3 years depending on the rank of the retired public official.

This measure aligns with the Public Officials Ethics Act, which prohibits employment at restricted institutions for 3 years after retirement for retired public officials subject to asset disclosure other than lawyers, and prohibits handling work of the institution where the official worked from 2 years before retirement until retirement for 2 years after retirement for those subject to employment review based on institutional work standards.

According to the amendment, first-grade public officials subject to asset disclosure under the Public Officials Ethics Act, high court chief judges, chief prosecutors, police commissioners or higher, heads and deputy heads of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), etc., will be prohibited from accepting cases from the institution where they worked for 3 years prior to retirement for 3 years after retirement. For them, the submission period for case acceptance materials will also be extended from the current 2 years to 3 years.

Second-grade or higher public officials subject to employment review based on institutional work standards, senior chief judges of district courts, high prosecutors’ chiefs, deputy chief prosecutors of district prosecutors’ offices, etc., will be prohibited from accepting cases from the institution where they worked for 2 years prior to retirement for 2 years after retirement. Other public officials will continue to be restricted from accepting cases from the institution where they worked for 1 year prior to retirement for 1 year after retirement, as is currently the case.

If a retired public official lawyer submits a false work report or fails to submit a work report, a fine of up to 20 million KRW or 10 million KRW respectively may be imposed, equivalent to false or non-submission of case acceptance materials.

Penalties for so-called ‘covert litigation’ conducted without submitting a power of attorney will also be strengthened.

Under current law, punishment requires the purpose of evading legal restrictions such as tax evasion or acceptance restrictions, making enforcement difficult and the penalty level low, which has been criticized for lacking effectiveness.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Justice has raised the statutory penalty for covert litigation with the purpose of tax evasion or evading legal restrictions from ‘imprisonment of up to 1 year or a fine of up to 10 million KRW’ to ‘imprisonment of up to 2 years or a fine of up to 20 million KRW.’

In addition, a fine of up to 20 million KRW will be newly established for simple covert litigation without justifiable reasons.

The statutory penalty for lawyers accepting cases they handled while serving as public officials has also been raised from ‘imprisonment of up to 1 year or a fine of up to 10 million KRW’ to ‘imprisonment of up to 2 years or a fine of up to 20 million KRW.’

Meanwhile, the amendment also establishes effective measures to eliminate legal brokers.

First, regulations will be strengthened against acts implying ‘jeongwan privileges’ by promoting connections with public institutions. The current Attorney-at-Law Act limits the prohibition of promoting connections to officials of judicial and investigative agencies and does not provide separate sanctions for violations.

However, the amended law expands the institutions subject to the prohibition of promoting connections to include agencies responsible for investigative duties such as the Fair Trade Commission, National Tax Service, Financial Supervisory Service, and other agencies designated by presidential decree, and allows imposing fines of up to 10 million KRW for violations.

Also, retired public officials employed by law firms who are not lawyers will be clearly defined as ‘office staff’ under the Attorney-at-Law Act, so that regulations such as prohibition of promoting connections and prohibition of entry for the purpose of soliciting cases can be applied. The amendment introduces provisions for lawyers’ guidance and supervision responsibilities over office staff and joint penalty provisions to strengthen lawyers’ accountability.

Monitoring and disciplinary actions against violations of legal ethics will also be strengthened.

To realize the function of the Legal Ethics Council established to establish legal ethics and foster a sound legal culture, a Legal Ethics Violation Reporting Center will be established within the council, and disciplinary standards for lawyers will be prepared to ensure strict and consistent discipline.

Following the 5th Anti-Corruption Policy Council held last November and the announcement of the ‘Plan to Eradicate Jeongwan Privileges in the Legal Profession’ in March this year, the Ministry of Justice prepared this amendment after in-depth discussions by the ‘Attorney System Improvement Committee’ composed of experts from academia, courts, the Korean Bar Association, and the Legal Ethics Council, and announced it for legislative notice on the 30th of the same month.

The Ministry of Justice stated, “We will promptly submit the amendment to the National Assembly and make every effort to ensure that the amendment passes after thorough discussions in the National Assembly.”

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