New Ways to Appoint and Promote Prosecutors

The Presidential Transition Committee announced yesterday that it would upgrade the status of the Civil Service Commission for Prosecutors. Under the new plan, the commission would be composed of nine members. Then, Attorney General, the Korean Bar Association, and civil organizations would recommend three members each. In addition, the commission, currently being an advisory commission, would be empowered to make decisions.

Park Bun-gye (40, lawyer) on the Presidential Transition Committee confirmed in a press conference, "So far, the commission has functioned only as a rubber stamp. The President and the Justice Minister have called the shots. We will reform the old practice. To renew the commission, we are considering giving it a power to make recommendations for promotion of prosecutors."

Park also said, "Majority of the commission members will be filled with people who are not prosecutors." Therefore, for the first time in history, various bar associations and civil rights groups would expectedly influence the promotional procedure of the prosecution.

He also made clear, "To respect the opinion of the judicial branch, we are also considering giving the authority to the Chief Justice to make recommendations to raise the status of the commission. President-elect Roh Moo-hyun firmly believes that the prosecution should also be reformed. Thus, the present reform plan would not end up without any results due to connections."

If the committee`s plan gets to be enforced, the Attorney General would be appointed by the President upon recommendation of the Civil Service Commission. In addition, appointment of prosecutors including high-ranking positions would be made by the Attorney General upon the commission`s screening.

Currently, the commission consists of seven members. 5 members of them are incumbent prosecutors including Deputy Minister of Justice, and a legal scholar and a lawyer fill up the remaining two positions.

A senior Justice Ministry official commented on the plan, "We should carefully review the possible consequences to be brought about by the new composition of the commission. I don`t believe that the plan represents the official position of the transition committee, and a lot of discussion and debate on it would follow."

Committee member Park graduated from Yensei University after passing the high school equivalency exam. In 1991, he passed the bar exam, and served as judge at the Seoul and Daejun District Court. Last October, he joined Millennium Democratic Party as the special assistant of Roh, who was then a candidate.

Myoung-Gun Lee Seung-Heon Lee gun43@donga.com ddr@donga.com