Supreme Court to Appoint 136 Experienced Judges... Record High 19 Prosecutors Included

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Supreme Court announced on the 26th that a total of 136 candidates passed the final screening by the Judicial Personnel Committee in this year's appointment process for judges with general legal experience.

Among the scheduled appointees this year, 73 (53.7%) are women, outnumbering men (63). Graduates from law schools numbered 81, surpassing those who completed the Judicial Research and Training Institute (55). The phenomenon of women outnumbering men and law school graduates surpassing Judicial Research and Training Institute graduates in new judge appointments first appeared last year.

By professional background, lawyers affiliated with law firms were the largest group with 86. The next largest group was former prosecutors, with 19, the highest ever. Among them, 12 are women. Including these 19, the total number of prosecutors who have transferred to the courts since the introduction of the experienced judge system reaches 64.

Public defenders (11), trial researchers at district courts (11), personnel from national and public institutions (7), and Supreme Court research judges (2) also evenly passed the final screening.

Appointments of judges with general legal experience are open to those with more than five years of legal experience and involve evaluations such as legal document drafting, document screening, practical skills interview, personality test, mid-term review by the Judicial Personnel Committee, various opinion inquiries and verification procedures with heads of jurisdictional courts and affiliated institutions, and a final in-depth interview.

The Supreme Court plans to publish the list of the 136 selected candidates on the Supreme Court website and the judge appointment website by the 13th of next month to collect opinions. Subsequently, around mid-next month, the Supreme Council will hold a meeting to comprehensively consider the existing appointment review materials and the submitted opinions to make the final decision on the new judge appointments.