Posted on : Feb.1,2007 15:31 KST Modified on : Feb.2,2007 16:04 KST

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has issued a report on its study of court judgments based on the "Emergency Measures" of the later Park Chung-hee years. By shedding light on how this era came to pass, the commission’s work is part of the effort to make sure the state does not commit civil rights violations of this kind again. There is considerable controversy about whether or not the commission was right to reveal the names of the judges involved, but we think it was. Each and every judge is an organ of the state. It would be cowardly to remove their names from their judgments. And it is a contradiction to say that you feel good about your judicial decision while at the same time trying to avoid your name from being disclosed.

The very fact that the release of the judges’ names was controversial would appear to be evidence of the fact that our government servants still lack a firm sense of ethics. The argument that the emergency measures were based on the Yusin Constitution and that one cannot take issue with decisions based on what was the law of the land at the time fails to keep in mind what kind of ethical awareness a country would hope to see in its judges. Judges are supposed to be the final line of defense for human rights, so can be no justification for decisions that enact pain and suffering on innocent people. Events such as these must never happen again, but if a similar situation ever arises, judges will need to know how to act. Thus, this current opportunity must be taken in order to set some firm standards. This current effort is also needed to help maintain the independence of the judicial branch from political authority.

It would be hard to say all judges must bear the same moral responsibility because they were part of these judgments. Some were just additional judges on the bench, while a head judge made the official ruling, and some surely tried to work behind the scenes to prevent unreasonable decisions from being issued. This should be taken into consideration. If the country is going to arrive at true reconciliation, the judges that need to should take the initiative to seek out the victims, apologize, and ask for forgiveness. The outcry will only grow if these judges instead employ unreasonable logic to try to justify their conclusions at the time.

The courts need to get involved, too. The people's distrust of the courts is so serious that they are in need of a complete overhaul. The place to start would be in correcting past wrongs. It is progress in itself to have the Supreme Court say it "hopes to see this be an opportunity for the judicial branch to look at its past." Compared to other areas of society, the court system has been dragging its heels about facing its past. It should be noted that this report was actually the Truth and Reconciliation Commission doing the work that should have been done by the courts. Korea’s court system should follow up and make sure it gives judges a greater sense of ethics and responsibility.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]



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