Ministry scraps a plan to recruit prosecutors

The Ministry of Justice has scrapped a controversial plan to hire law school graduates recommended by deans of local law schools as state prosecutors, officials said yesterday, a move apparently influenced by fierce resistance from judicial trainees and lawyers.

Instead of scrapping the law-school-graduate recommendation scheme, the ministry will mull over various other measures to diversify the makeup of prosecutors, which include allowing the top 10 percent of law school graduates to apply for positions as prosecutors, said the officials.

“People from across society have expressed concern about the proposed recommendation of prospective prosecutors by deans of law schools. Under the revised plan, law school graduates aspiring to become prosecutors will be evaluated only by their law school grades,” said a ministry official.

Under the current judicial laws, after passing the national bar examination, some 1,000 prospective judges, prosecutors and lawyers undergo training for two years at the Judicial Research and Training Institute (JRTI), which is run by the Supreme Court. Some outstanding trainees are selected to become judges or prosecutors, and others choose to practice law.

The Justice Ministry’s initial plan to employ prosecutors recommended by law school deans was strongly opposed by lawyers, as well as the JRTI trainees.

Yonhap