Kyung Hee, Sogang, and Inha University Law Schools Likely to Receive 'Temporary Non-Accreditation'... Evaluation Committee to Announce Results Soon

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] It was reported on the 30th that three law schools?Kyung Hee University, Sogang University, and Inha University?received a "temporary non-accreditation" rating in the third cycle evaluation currently being conducted by the Law School Evaluation Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Evaluation Committee) under the Korean Bar Association.

Law schools that receive a "temporary non-accreditation" rating face restrictions on government funding and must improve the pointed issues within one year to undergo re-evaluation.

On August 23 last year, a meeting of the Law School Evaluation Committee was held at the Seoul Bar Association Building. In front of the meeting room, a protest sign from the Korean Bar Association regarding the revision of evaluation criteria was placed.

On this day, Yonhap News reported that the Evaluation Committee comprehensively assessed law schools over five years from March 2017 to February 2022, including lectures, faculty research achievements, scholarships, and facilities, resulting in nine schools receiving "accreditation" and the remaining 16 receiving either "conditional accreditation" or "temporary non-accreditation."

According to the report, Kyung Hee University, Sogang University, and Inha University law schools were the first to receive a "temporary non-accreditation" rating since the introduction of the law school system in 2009.

Additionally, 13 schools?Konkuk University, Korea University, Seoul National University, University of Seoul, Sungkyunkwan University, Ajou University, Wonkwang University, Ewha Womans University, Chonnam National University, Chonbuk National University, Jeju National University, Chung-Ang University, and Chungbuk National University?received a "conditional accreditation" rating. Conditionally accredited law schools are those evaluated as capable of improving deficiencies within one year.

Among the total 25 law schools, nine received an "accreditation" rating: Kangwon National University, Kyungpook National University, Dong-A University, Pusan National University, Yonsei University, Yeungnam University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Chungnam National University, and Hanyang University. This number is significantly lower compared to the first cycle evaluation in 2012 (18 schools) and the second cycle evaluation in 2018 (23 schools).

In the 2017 second cycle evaluation, Kyungpook National University law school received a conditional accreditation rating due to multiple courses lacking lecture suitability and findings from the Board of Audit and Inspection that attendance and grade management for the first semester of 2013 and 2014 were neglected, resulting in disciplinary action by the Ministry of Education for improper academic management. Sogang University law school also received a conditional accreditation rating due to having only one female full-time faculty member, failing to meet the 10% female faculty ratio, and two faculty members’ research achievements not meeting the minimum research output standard of 400%, resulting in an "unsatisfactory" judgment in the "faculty area."

The schools that received "temporary non-accreditation" or "conditional accreditation" this time were found to have insufficient research achievements or assigned lectures to inappropriate professors.

Some schools also failed to comply with regulations requiring the inclusion of external personnel in interview examinations or did not meet the legal minimum number of 20 faculty members. Although current law mandates that law schools must abolish undergraduate law majors, it was revealed that some schools have effectively continued operating undergraduate law departments. However, this issue was reportedly not reflected in this evaluation.

Article 28 (Establishment and Functions of the Evaluation Committee) of the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Law Schools stipulates that "to perform the following tasks related to the educational evaluation of law schools, a Law School Evaluation Committee shall be established under the Korean Bar Association pursuant to Article 78 of the Attorney-at-Law Act."

The duties of the Evaluation Committee include ▲evaluation of education, organization, operation, and facilities of law schools (Item 1) and ▲development of evaluation techniques and establishment of evaluation standards for appropriate evaluation (Item 2).

Article 27 (Evaluation by the Law School Evaluation Committee) of the same law states that "universities with law schools must undergo evaluation by the Law School Evaluation Committee pursuant to Article 28 in accordance with the Presidential Decree."

The Evaluation Committee consists of 11 members, including one chairperson appointed by the president of the Bar Association. Members include four law professors or associate professors recommended by the Minister of Education, one judge with over 10 years of experience recommended by the Chief of the Court Administration, one prosecutor with over 10 years of experience recommended by the Minister of Justice, one lawyer with over 10 years of experience, one public official engaged in educational administration with over 10 years of experience, and three others with academic knowledge and integrity appointed by the Bar Association president.

Since 2009, the Evaluation Committee has periodically conducted comprehensive evaluations of law schools’ lectures, faculty research achievements, scholarships, and facilities. Evaluation ratings are divided into accreditation, conditional accreditation, temporary non-accreditation, and non-accreditation.

However, since the Evaluation Committee does not have authority over approval, cancellation, abolition, change of approval, or quota adjustment of law schools, the "accreditation" rating given by the committee only reflects the results of evaluations in five areas conducted by the committee. The committee stated that universities receiving "conditional accreditation" or "temporary non-accreditation" ratings can still recruit new students and operate academic affairs without hindrance.

Meanwhile, a representative of the Evaluation Committee said regarding the media reports on this day, "This is not the official position of the Evaluation Committee," and added, "The evaluation work is still ongoing and is expected to be completed within this month."

They further stated, "Once the evaluation work is completed at the end of this month, the results will be reported to the Ministry of Education, the competent department, and the evaluation results will be notified to the 25 law schools concerned and posted on the Evaluation Committee’s website."