Ministry of Justice: "Law School Prosecutorial Practice Exam to Be Retaken Due to Impact on Fairness"

Some "Specific Charges" Presented in Lectures at Hanyang University Law School Appeared on the Exam
Ministry of Justice: "Prosecutor Professors Lectured Beyond the Agreed Scope"

(Photo by The Asia Business Daily DB)

Final exams for subjects taken by students aspiring to become prosecutors at 25 law schools nationwide will be retaken.

According to the Ministry of Justice on December 1, the final exam for "Prosecutorial Practice 1," which was administered simultaneously at 25 law schools across the country on November 29, will be retaken later this month. Typically, "Prosecutorial Practice" is a course taken by students who hope to be appointed as prosecutors, and all 25 law schools use the same exam questions.

Prosecutor-instructors teach the "Prosecutorial Practice" course at three to four law schools in each region. It was revealed that at Hanyang University and other schools, a prosecutor-instructor deviated from the scope previously agreed upon with other instructors and presented certain "criminal charges" to students during class, some of which appeared on the actual final exam. Since all law schools take the same exam, prosecutor-instructors coordinate to ensure that important content is delivered uniformly to all students.

The Ministry of Justice explained, "Before the exam, at a certain school, a class on 'Regulations Concerning Charges to Be Stated in the Indictment and Non-Prosecution Disposition' was conducted outside the scope of prior agreement among instructors. During this class, certain criminal charges that were highlighted as important were presented to students, and it was confirmed that some of these charges appeared on the actual exam."

The Ministry added, "Prosecutor-instructors who lecture at law schools nationwide are affiliated with the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and they prepare their lecture materials in consultation with each other to ensure uniform instruction at all schools. However, in this case, the lecture deviated from the agreed-upon scope."

The Ministry of Justice determined that this issue could significantly affect the fairness of the evaluation and decided to retake the final exam. The retest is scheduled to take place in December and will be administered as soon as possible after coordinating the schedule with each school.