Suwon City Appoints 150 Citizen Reserve Jurors

Suwon City in Gyeonggi Province has appointed 150 Citizen Reserve Jurors.

On October 14, Suwon City announced that it held an orientation for the 7th class of Citizen Reserve Jurors at the Suwon Convention Center on the 13th. This year's Citizen Reserve Jury consists of 150 members, including 114 new appointees and 36 reappointed members. The youngest reserve juror is 19 years old, while the oldest is 77.

The orientation included a screening of an introductory video about the Citizen Jury Court, the presentation of appointment certificates to representative reserve jurors, an explanation of the operation of the Citizen Jury Court, and a special lecture by attorney Kim Heekyung on the topic of "Participatory Decision-Making Systems and the Citizen Jury System."

Lee Jaejun, the mayor of Suwon, presented appointment certificates to both the youngest and oldest reserve jurors.

The Suwon Citizen Jury Court, first revised in 2012 by Suwon City as the nation's first local government initiative of its kind, is a communication program designed to encourage citizens to pool their wisdom and reach mature agreements on major municipal policies and issues where conflicts are anticipated or have arisen. The outcomes are actively reflected in policy decisions.

Suwon City has launched a Citizen Reserve Jury. The Citizen Reserve Jurors are attending an orientation and taking a commemorative photo. Provided by Suwon City.

Going beyond simply gathering opinions, this forum allows citizens to seek desirable alternatives through deliberation and ensures that these alternatives are reflected in policy decisions.

The Citizen Reserve Jury is a pool of candidates who participate as jurors when the Citizen Jury Court is convened.

When the Citizen Jury Court is held, 30 to 40 juror candidates are randomly selected from the Citizen Reserve Jury for each case. After processes for exclusion, objection, and recusal, a final group of 10 to 20 jurors is randomly chosen.

Mayor Lee Jaejun stated, "Since the Citizen Jury Court is a system with significant influence and decision-making power for citizen participation, the role of the Citizen Reserve Jury is extremely important. I hope that by actively participating in the Citizen Jury Court, you will make wise decisions that all stakeholders can accept."

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