Posted February. 20, 2010 08:43,
The Seoul Central District Court yesterday raised the qualifications of judges to individually supervise criminal cases to 10 years of experience or more.
The increase apparently stems from the judiciarys self-reform drive amid mounting public outrage over the acquittal of Kang Ki-kap, the leader of the progressive Democratic Labor Party, on the charge of using violence at the National Assembly.
According to a plan for trial allocation released yesterday, the court has deployed all of its judges in charge of criminal cases, with veteran members of the bench having 10 or more years of experience.
The career requirement was raised for the courts 16 judges individually responsible for criminal cases, excluding those in charge of summary trials, and deliberation of arrest warrants.
Under the plan, the number of senior judges was doubled from two to four. Their average age was raised from 40.9 years of last year to 42.2 and years of experience from 11.9 years to 13.9.