On Wednesday Supreme Court chief justice Yi Yong Hun submitted to the president three nominations for Supreme Court justice. There had been a lot of interest the chief justice's first series of nominations because in his inaugural speech he declared the need for the judicial branch to face its past wrongs. He nominated one candidate who is a graduate of Seoul National University (SNU), one candidate who is not, and one who is not currently working in the court system. Supreme Court nominations have long been monopolized by people from within the courts who graduated from SNU, so Yi's choice is a step in the right direction for not following the same old practice. We should say that first and foremost this is the result of the persistent calls of civil society that the court reflect the diverse values and views that exist in our society.
It is unfortunate, however, that the nominations are nevertheless somewhat influenced by the old practice of placing importance on what year a person passed the bar examination and seniority. One might view that as something to stabilize the organization, but it is time to put an end to the dated culture of having senior judges retire when those that followed them are made Supreme Court justices.
The criticism coming from some quarters that claims the process of this series of nominations is means that progressive influences have won the day or that they reflect pressure from civic groups is nonsense. The Supreme Court is a place that maintains the country's balance with reason and common sense. It is a matter of course that it reflect society's diverse values and give ear to the changing times and popular sentiment. We believe that the composition of the Supreme Court is still inadequate when it comes to guaranteeing our society's ideological balance. These nominations are more diverse in terms of the candidates origins, but strictly speaking, are not all three individuals people who have worked in the courts? Next year there will be five vacancies on the Supreme Court. We hope to see discussion about opening the door wider, to potentially include candidates from fields such as academia.
The duty of those who become new Supreme Court justices is a very important one, because now is a time when the first step towards resolving the shameful wrongs of the authoritarian years and reforming the judicial system is being taken. One hopes to see what the recently retired chief justice Yu Ji Dam said would be like "washing the feet of the people."
The Hankyoreh, 20 October 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Progress in Supreme Court Nominations |
