Doohyun Kong, The Achievements and Future Tasks of Judicial Administration Reform, Journal of IFA, Korea, Vol.72, No.6(2023.12), pp. 203-249.
<Abstract>
The judicial administration system of Korea was based on a vertical, centralized, and closed structure centering around the Chief Justice and National Court Administration, and such structural problems were starkly brought to light in 2017.
Since then, the movement towards reform of the judicial administration system jeopardizing the independence of judges and trials has been made while the measures to reform the judicial administration, on the basis of the National Conference of Judiciary Representatives and the Committee on Judicial System Development involving citizens, have been under active discussion in the court.
A functional, structural division of the National Court Administration serving multiple functions of decision-making, execution, and research into a horizontal meeting group mainly responsible for decision-making, the Administrative Office of the Courts for execution, and the Judicial Policy Research Institute and Training Institute for Court Officials for research has been agreed as an effective alternative. In addition, achieving greater transparency for judicial administration procedures and strengthening checks and balances by appointing outsiders for judicial administration have been pointed out as major tasks. The courts of each level have also endeavored to reform the judicial administration system through measures such as the Judge Conference.
Such internal reform efforts, made in the fundamental direction of horizontality, decentralization, and openness, have come into fruition as a number of the reform proposals have been institutionalized. However, the institutionalization has its limitations due to its dependency on the internal rules set out by the Supreme Court.
The reform of the judicial administration system, therefore, should be brought to completion in tandem with legislation for the fulfillment of the core judicial values of independce, impartiality, and fairness.
<Keywords>
judicial reform, judicial administration, the National Conference of Judiciary Representatives, the Supreme Court of Korea, National Court Administration
Doohyun Kong, The Achievements and Future Tasks of Judicial Administration Reform, Journal of IFA, Korea, Vol.72, No.6(2023.12), pp. 203-249.
<Abstract>
The judicial administration system of Korea was based on a vertical, centralized, and closed structure centering around the Chief Justice and National Court Administration, and such structural problems were starkly brought to light in 2017.
Since then, the movement towards reform of the judicial administration system jeopardizing the independence of judges and trials has been made while the measures to reform the judicial administration, on the basis of the National Conference of Judiciary Representatives and the Committee on Judicial System Development involving citizens, have been under active discussion in the court.
A functional, structural division of the National Court Administration serving multiple functions of decision-making, execution, and research into a horizontal meeting group mainly responsible for decision-making, the Administrative Office of the Courts for execution, and the Judicial Policy Research Institute and Training Institute for Court Officials for research has been agreed as an effective alternative. In addition, achieving greater transparency for judicial administration procedures and strengthening checks and balances by appointing outsiders for judicial administration have been pointed out as major tasks. The courts of each level have also endeavored to reform the judicial administration system through measures such as the Judge Conference.
Such internal reform efforts, made in the fundamental direction of horizontality, decentralization, and openness, have come into fruition as a number of the reform proposals have been institutionalized. However, the institutionalization has its limitations due to its dependency on the internal rules set out by the Supreme Court.
The reform of the judicial administration system, therefore, should be brought to completion in tandem with legislation for the fulfillment of the core judicial values of independce, impartiality, and fairness.
<Keywords>
judicial reform, judicial administration, the National Conference of Judiciary Representatives, the Supreme Court of Korea, National Court Administration