[New Year's Address] Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su: "Court Chief Candidate Recommendation System, Nationwide Expansion... Strengthening Judicial Administration"

Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo./Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo of the Supreme Court evaluated that the "Court President Candidate Recommendation System," which will be expanded nationwide to district courts starting next year, will further strengthen democratic and transparent judicial administration.

In his New Year's address, Chief Justice Kim stated on the 31st, "The dual system of judicial personnel management in preparation for the unification of the legal profession and the era of lifelong judges, along with democratic and transparent judicial administration centered on trial support, will be firmly established. I expect it to also serve as a strong driving force in realizing 'good trials' for the people, where independent judges reach just conclusions in a timely manner through thorough deliberation."

Chief Justice Kim explained that this year, various institutional improvements were achieved, including the expansion of exclusive jurisdiction for single judges in civil first trials, the pilot implementation of the specialized judge system, measures to prevent secondary damage to victims of sexual crimes, and the expansion of judicial support services for persons with disabilities.

He said, "We laid the foundation for the activation of video trials by installing courts dedicated to video trials, improving public access to justice. Efforts also continued to stabilize the unification of the legal profession system through reviewing and improving the judge appointment process and securing trial support personnel."

Chief Justice Kim also explained that the specialized insolvency courts called ‘Rehabilitation Courts’ will be expanded and established in Busan and Suwon in March next year. He stated, "This will provide more efficient and prompt opportunities for self-reliance to companies and individuals facing critical situations due to the economic crisis and serve as a good opportunity to overcome regional disparities in judicial services."

He added, "To more substantially guarantee the right to a speedy and fair trial, we plan to gradually increase the number of judges by 370 over five years starting next year. We will also soon present to the public improvement measures for the appellate system suited to our reality, which we have continuously reviewed since my inauguration, and closely cooperate with the National Assembly and related institutions."

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