[Exclusive] 'Court General Staff' Personnel Transfer Delayed... "Leaving Without Handover"

Serious Impact of Supreme Court Chief Justice Vacancy... Ahn Cheolsang Acting Chief Faces Burden of Exercising Personnel Authority
Position Converted to General Staff under Kim Myungsoo Maintained... Significant Influence on Lower-Level Personnel as Well

The personnel appointments for court clerks and above, which were scheduled to be carried out consecutively starting with promotions and transfers, have been postponed due to the vacancy of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. With the nomination process for filling the two vacant Supreme Court Justice positions, effective January 1 next year, yet to begin, and the delay in personnel appointments for general court staff who support trials, the judiciary appears to be in turmoil.

Supreme Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul.

According to a comprehensive report by Asia Economy on the 28th, the Supreme Court originally planned to carry out promotions and transfers for court clerks and above the previous day but postponed them. Acting Chief Justice Ahn Cheol-sang felt burdened exercising personnel authority and consulted Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee Cho Hee-dae for his opinion on the appointments. However, Cho declined, citing the principle that he could not intervene in personnel matters as he was not yet officially the Chief Justice, leading to the postponement of the general staff appointments.

The judiciary typically begins personnel appointments with promotions and transfers for Court Administrative Officers (Grade 1), Court Executive Officers (Grade 2), Deputy Executive Officers (Grade 3), and Court Clerks (Grade 4), followed by Judicial Officers (Grade 5) and Grades 6 to 9 at intervals of about ten days.

The Court Administrative Officer is a single position across the entire judiciary, serving as the Director of the Administrative Management Office of the Court Administration. There are 14 Court Executive Officers nationwide, who hold positions such as secretaries of high courts, secretaries of the Seoul Central District Court, and directors of the Registration Bureau of the Court Administration. Deputy Executive Officers, who are Grade 3 court officials, typically serve as secretaries of court offices nationwide, managing the internal affairs of the courts.

General court staff appointments are usually made effective January 1. Up to the Deputy Executive Officer level, the Court Administration determines assignments, but from the Court Clerk level, assignments are decided by each court. Therefore, prompt personnel appointments are necessary to issue transfer orders even to frontline support staff.

Since smooth trials depend on the completion of general court staff appointments, the Supreme Court previously decided at a Justice meeting to proceed with next year's court personnel appointments on the usual schedule. However, the prolonged vacancy of the Chief Justice has ultimately caused disruptions.

With no new Chief Justice appointed, it is also reported that some senior positions converted to general staff under the Kim Myung-soo administration are likely to remain unchanged.

Within the courts, concerns have been raised that if the announcement of general staff appointments is delayed, the subsequent assignment decisions by each court will also be postponed, leaving little time for work handovers. It is known that even if the announcement is delayed this time, the appointments will still take effect on January 1 next year.

A secretary from the Finance Court A Office said, "From the Court Clerk level, assignments are decided by the courts where the personnel are appointed. To conduct handovers, assignments must be finalized, but if appointments are delayed, those below Grade 4 will likely have to receive work instructions via phone calls from their predecessors."

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