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Supreme Court slaps 6 month suspension on judge

Feb. 14, 2012 - 10:18 By

The Supreme Court's disciplinary committee on Monday ordered a six month suspension of duties for a judge who illegally released inside information on a controversial case ruling.

The committee, headed by a Supreme Court justice and made up of seven judges, lawyers and scholars, ruled that Lee Jeong-ryeol, a senior judge on the Changwon District Court, intentionally broke the law and compromised the dignity of the court.

"The disciplinary action has been decided because Lee failed to adhere to elementary rules that aim to uphold the trust and confidence in a judge and ensure the independence of the bench," a spokesperson for the Supreme Court said.

Lee, who gained notoriety for his outspoken criticism and parody of President Lee Myung-bak on social network services (SNS), had been the presiding judge in a high profile 2007 appeals case involving a dismissed university professor.

The case has fueled public criticism of the judiciary as a whole in recent weeks, with some attacks centered on Lee and other judges involved in the ruling. A surprise box-office hit about the case released this year helped to renew interest in the incident.

In a memo released on an internal Internet bulletin site that can only be accessed by court workers, the senior judge claimed that initially the court wanted to rule in favor of the ex-Sungkyunkwan University professor, yet discovered serious discrepancies in his claims.

By making public the deliberation process in the case, he violated rules that only permit the Supreme Court to comment on the judicial deliberation process.

The case involved Kim Myeong-ho, who was dismissed from his university post after he divulged an error in the school's admissions test in 1995. He was subsequently fired from his post, and was unsuccessful in his legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

Kim, however, initiated another legal struggle in 2005, but the court again rejected his claim. This failure caused the former professor to attack Park Hong-woo, then a Seoul High Court judge, with a crossbow in 2007. Kim was sentenced to four years in prison after the incident.

The Supreme Court said the latest disciplinary measure reflects the need to censure breach of rules, and pointed out that Lee was aware of the consequences of his actions.

The senior judge did not show up at the disciplinary committee meeting even though he was asked to do so.

Others on the bench, however, said that the actions taken against Lee were harsher than the violation warranted, and hinted it may have been due to his ridicule of President Lee, which had already earned him a formal reprimand for his superior.

"The six month suspension is too severe and this view is shared by many," a Seoul judge, who declined to be identified, said. He pointed out that another judge who had been convicted of personal wrongdoing only received a five month suspension.

The disciplinary action, in particular, has attracted attention because it comes on the heels of a decision by the Supreme Court last week not to reinstate Seo Ki-ho, a judge for the Seoul Northern District Court, who openly lampooned the president on various SNS.

Under South Korean law, judges have their job performance reviewed by the Supreme Court every 10 years, and those considered "unfit" for the job are dismissed.

Related to the decision not to reinstate Seo, some front-line judges said they will hold a meeting on Friday to discuss the expulsion.

Some judges claimed that the Supreme Court must explain why Seo was not reinstated to his post and called for transparency in the decision making process. (Yonhap News)

 

<관련 한글 기사>

서기호 "많은 판사가 재임용심사 문제점 공감"

17일 서부지법서 단독판사 회의…북부지법도 논의중

"많은 판사들이 대법원의 현행 재임용 심사의 부적절성에 대해 공감하고 있습니다. 내가 탈락하면 이들의 반발이 예상되는 상황인 데도 실제로 탈락 결정이 나 충격적이었습니다"

지난 10일 대법원으로부터 재임용 심사 탈락 통보를 받아 17일 이후 법복을 벗게 되는 서기호(42.사법연수원 29기) 판사는 13일 연합뉴스와의 인터뷰에서 이같이 말했다.

그는 자신의 재임용 탈락 후폭풍으로 서울서부지법 단독 판사들이 17일 법관연 임제와 근무평정의 공정성 문제를 논의하기 위한 판사회의를 여는 데 대해 "어느 정 도는 예상했다"는 반응을 보이기도 했다.

그는 현재 서부지법 뿐 아니라 북부지법에서도 판사회의를 열기 위한 논의를 진 행하고 있는 것으로 안다고 전했다.

서 판사는 "현재 대법원의 평판사에 대한 재임용 심사의 문제점은 비공개 원칙, 상향식 평가, 상대평가로 요약할 수 있다"며 "이런 문제에 대해 많은 판사들이 공감 했고 대법원이 이를 모를 리 없다고 생각했기 때문에 재임용 탈락은 예상할 수 없었 다"고 말했다.

서 판사는 우선 "유독 우리나라 법원만이 근무평정을 비공개로 하는 전근대적인 방식을 고수하고 있다"고 주장했다.

그는 행정처에 법관인사위원의 명단 공개를 요청했으나 묵살당했고, 인사위원회 가 열린 당일에도 위원들의 명패를 확인할 수 없었다고 덧붙였다.

그는 또 평판사의 근무 평정이 법원장의 주관적 평가에 의해 좌우되는 평가 방식도 불만이라고 말했다.

서 판사는 "7가지 근무평정 지표 중 사건처리능력을 제외한 나머지는 법원장이 공정하게 평가할 것이라고 '기대'하는 주관적인 지표"라며 "법원장은 대부분 판결문을 보고 평가하는데 이는 판사가 법정에서 제대로 재판하는지 알 수 없는 방식"이라 고 지적했다.

서 판사는 또 "근무성적이 하위권이라며 대법원이 나를 재임용 심사대상에 포함 시켰다는 사실이 알려졌을 때 일선 평판사들은 '어이없다'는 반응이었다"고 전했다.

그는 "평판사가 근무성적이 낮아 재임용 심사에 포함되거나 탈락한 것은 유례가 없는 일이기 때문"이라고 설명했다.

변호인단을 꾸려 행정소송이나 헌법소원 등 법적 대응을 준비하고 사법개혁 운동에 나설 계획을 밝힌 바 있는 그는 SNS에 '가카 빅엿'이라는 말을 쓴 것에 대해서 "후회하지 않는다. 당시 (표현의 자유를 위해) 나름대로 필요한 행동이었다"고 말했다.