법학전문대학원, 어떻게 만들 것인가?

What should be done for the Korean 'law school' system?

In October 2004, the Judicial Reform Committee determined that 'law school' system should be introduced from 2008 as the new legal education system. The Committee's opinion will take concrete shape after it is submitted to the chief of the Supreme Court and then sent to President. The Korean legal system has failed to meet the demands for diverse services and wasted human resources to a great extent. As a 'remedy', the law school system was first discussed in 1995, but failed because the nation's judicial circles strongly protested against it. As the result, the flaws became more and more serious for the 10 years since 1995. In that sense, it can be said that the Committee's determination is a meaningful step toward the reform. The introduction of law school system means that the principle of legal education system should be changed from 'control and regulation' by the state to 'autonomy and competition' by the universities. However, there are many critical defects in the Committee's opinion. Most of all, the artificial control over the number of law school students has no rational grounds, is contrary to the principle of law school system, and will be harmful to effective operation of the system. It could neither solve the problems of the existing system, nor provide a 'new' education. The quota for law school students in the Committee's opinion should be removed in the process of the materialization of the new system. The over-emphasis of 'legal practice' is another defect. The Committee's opinion demands the recruitment of 20-30% of law school professors from 'legal practitioners'. It is natural that 'legal practice' should be educated at law schools. However, the law school is not the Judicial Research and Training Institute. It is a graduate school for legal 'education'. Basic theories of law, legal ethics and various specialized subjects should be more emphasized. The third defect is the multiple control by the judicial circles. In the Committee's opinion, it is assumed that they will control the standards for approval of law schools, the quota for law school students, the procedure of the approval and so forth. Considering that the judicial circles has protested against law school system, this might be harmful to the sound introduction of the system. The participation of the judicial circles in the system must be allowed just as much as their understanding and ability. Law school system is a possibility. It is the possibility of cultivating well-educated 'good' lawyers. However, it is just a possibility at the present time. Whether the Korean law school system will be successful or not depends on the Korean lawyers including attorneys, public prosecutors, judges and professors of law.