Lawyer Registration Cancellations Reach 14 So Far This Year, Nearly Matching 2024's Total of 15

Lawyer Disqualifications on the Rise
Registration Cancellations Outpace Other Professions
Permanent Bans for Job-Related Crimes
Disqualification Rates Four Times Higher Than for Doctors
Qualification Standards Under Scrutiny

The number of lawyers who have lost their qualifications due to violations of professional ethics, resulting in criminal punishment and cancellation of lawyer registration, has been increasing. As of August this year, the number of registration cancellations has already nearly matched the total for 2024, with more than a dozen lawyers losing their qualifications each year. The rate at which lawyers lose their qualifications due to criminal offenses is higher than that of other professions such as doctors or teachers.

Number of Lawyer Registration Cancellations

According to the Ministry of Justice, there were 14 cases of lawyers whose registration was canceled due to receiving a sentence of imprisonment or heavier punishment for job-related crimes from January to August this year. This figure is already comparable to the 15 cases recorded in 2024. Over the past 10 years, from 2016 to the present, a total of 190 lawyers have had their registrations canceled. The year with the highest number of cancellations was 2017, with 33 cases.

Under the Attorney-at-Law Act, a lawyer who has completed a sentence of imprisonment or heavier punishment must wait five years before re-registering as a lawyer, subject to approval by the Korean Bar Association. If a lawyer receives another sentence of imprisonment or heavier punishment, they are permanently disqualified from practicing law.

The number of lawyer registration cancellations was relatively higher than in other professions. The number of doctor license revocations was 24 in 2022, 25 in 2023, and 21 in 2024, which is a similar level to that of lawyers. For doctors, a single sentence of imprisonment or heavier punishment, regardless of whether it is related to their work, results in license revocation. Considering that there are about 160,000 doctors but fewer than 40,000 practicing lawyers, the cancellation rate for lawyers is about four times higher.

For teachers, the number of compulsory retirements due to a sentence of imprisonment or heavier punishment was 14 in 2022, 20 in 2023, and 16 in 2024. The number of elementary, middle, and high school teachers is over 440,000, which is more than ten times the number of lawyers. For teachers, any type of crime, regardless of whether it is related to their work, is grounds for disqualification.

For labor attorneys, receiving two sentences of imprisonment or heavier punishment for job-related crimes results in permanent disqualification, similar to lawyers. However, for judicial scriveners, administrative scriveners, patent attorneys, and tax accountants, registration cancellation is not a permanent measure. Doctors can also have their licenses reissued 10 years after a second revocation.

Kim Jaewon, a professor at Sungkyunkwan University Law School, said, "Since lawyers handle clients' confidential information in depth, the risk of abusing their position and being tempted to commit crimes may be greater than in other professions." However, the qualification standards for lawyers are not necessarily more lenient than those for other professions. Lim Sung (63, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 21), chairman of the Legal Ethics Council, explained, "Even though only crimes related to professional duties are grounds for permanent disqualification, the Ministry of Justice interprets this standard broadly."

Park Seongdong, Law Times Reporter

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.

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