Supreme Court: "Judge Appointment Requirements Should Be Reduced to a Minimum of 5 Years Legal Experience"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Supreme Court has expressed the position that the minimum legal experience required for applicants to become judges should be reduced to 5 years.

According to the legal community on the 24th, the Supreme Court's Judicial Administration Office recently submitted an opinion to the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee supporting the amendment to the Court Organization Act that reduces the required legal experience for judge applicants to 5 years.

Since 2013, the unified legal profession system has been in effect, which allows only those with a minimum legal experience to be appointed as judges. The current minimum legal experience is 5 years, but it is scheduled to increase to 7 years from 2022 and 10 years from 2026.

The Judicial Administration Office stated, "Since the introduction of the unified legal profession system, significant restrictions have been imposed on judicial appointments," and expressed support for the amendment to the Court Organization Act that lowers the legal experience requirement for judicial appointments.

The office also expressed concern, saying, "In 2026, when the legal experience requirement reaches 10 years, restrictions are expected to become even more severe than now," adding, "This will ultimately be a significant limitation in providing 'good trials' to the public."

Furthermore, it emphasized, "Overseas, it is rare or almost nonexistent to require a minimum of 10 years of legal experience for judicial appointments," and stressed, "The legal amendment should be made before January 2022, when the legal experience requirement increases to 7 years or more."