Seoul Bar Association Announces 109 Outstanding Judges Including Judge Yu Chang-hoon Who Dismissed Lee Jae-myung's Arrest Warrant

Last year, Yoo Chang-hoon, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court who dismissed the arrest warrant for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was included among the 109 outstanding judges selected by the Seoul Bar Association (Seoul Bar).

The Seoul Bar announced on the 5th that in the '2023 Judge Evaluation' conducted among 1,402 judges handling litigation cases last year, 109 judges including Chief Judge Yoo were selected as outstanding judges. This is the second time Chief Judge Yoo has been selected as an outstanding judge. A total of 2,341 Seoul Bar members participated in this evaluation.

Judge Kang Kyung-pyo of the Cheongju Division of the Daejeon High Court ranked first among all judges with an average score of 100 points. Judge Heo Seon-ah of the Seoul Family Court has been selected three times, including this year.

Looking at the affiliations of the outstanding judges selected this time, the Seoul Central District Court had the most with 21 judges. This was followed by Uijeongbu District Court with 7 judges, Seoul High Court and Incheon District Court with 6 judges each, and Seoul Administrative Court and Suwon District Court with 5 judges each.

A Seoul Bar official said, "The qualifications of outstanding judges include impartial and thorough trial proceedings, providing sufficient opportunities for evidence presentation, meticulous trial preparation, attentive listening and ample consideration, and active communication."

Conversely, 20 judges who received low evaluations due to inappropriate trial conduct were selected as lower-ranked judges. The Seoul Bar did not disclose their names but only announced their affiliated courts and representative cases.

A judge A from Jeju District Court, who recorded the lowest average score, was criticized for telling a female defendant in a casual tone, "Stop writing apology letters and make up for it with your body," causing significant emotional distress to the defendant and her family. Another case reported was that the judge said to a defendant he was meeting for the first time, "Defendant, lift your head, I know you," and "I saw the records during the warrant review; you are guilty, so why are you insisting otherwise?" revealing a high-handed presumption based on personal belief.

Additionally, judge B from the Western District Court has been selected as a lower-ranked judge seven times so far. Cases reported include repeatedly misjudging facts and verbally mentioning them during trial dates, or showing a scolding or sarcastic attitude toward parties during trial dates while suggesting mediation.

The Seoul Bar stated, "We will notify the 20 judges selected as lower-ranked judges and their court chiefs of their selection and urge them to take the matter seriously and pay special attention to prevent future occurrences of being selected as lower-ranked judges."

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