Announcement of Appointed Career Judges... Law School Graduates Surpass Bar Exam Passers for the First Time

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] A total of 157 candidates passed the final screening by the Judicial Personnel Committee in the appointment process for judges with general legal experience. Among them, 78 completed the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and 79 graduated from law schools, marking the first time that law school graduates outnumbered those from the Judicial Research and Training Institute.

On the 20th, the Supreme Court announced the list of 157 new judges with more than five years of legal experience scheduled for appointment and stated that it will collect opinions until September 3. Anyone can submit opinions regarding the qualifications of the candidates as judges.

This year's prospective judges include 11 former prosecutors, 88 lawyers from law firms, 26 public defenders, 5 from government or public institutions, 22 judicial researchers, and 5 judicial research officers. Notably, 78 completed the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and 79 are law school graduates. There are 75 men and 82 women.

The 2021 judge appointment process is divided into two categories based on legal experience: general legal professionals with more than five years of experience and dedicated judges with more than 20 years of legal experience. Since 2018, the minimum legal experience required for judge appointments was raised to five years, and the required experience for dedicated judges increased from 15 to 20 years.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will hold a conference of justices in mid-next month to comprehensively review the existing appointment screening materials and submitted opinions to make the final decision on new judge appointments.

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