For the first time in Korean history (Feb 12) a jury sat in at a legal trial, as a 27-year old man accused of house trespassing and assult was put on trial in Daegu District Court. Under this new system, which only applies in some cases, jurors act in an advisory capacity that hold no legal binding force. The jury spent two hours on deciding the man was guilty, and the judges concurred handing out a suspended sentence of two years and six months, plus 80 hours of community service.
The new system, officially called Citizens’ Participation in Criminal Trials, is part of wide-ranging judicial reforms enacted last year, which are aimed to make verdicts more fair and transparent, and to better protect human rights, writes the Korea Herald (here)
The JoongAng Daily (here) reports that all Korean citizens over 20 years are eligible for jury duty, which pays 100,000 won ($105) per day, but skipping it could lead to fines of up to 2 million won ($2,100), while bribing a jury member can lead to a jail sentence. More than 100 criminal cases will be tried under the new system in 2008.
The new system was accepted by Parliament in April 2007, after the Supreme Court started research on the jury system in 2000. The Supreme Court has conducted simulated jury trials with American style juries, and has also simulated the German-style three judges two citizens (lay judges) panel. A 2003 survey showed that more than 81% of those surveyed favoured 12-member jury, as did more than half of Korea’s 836 judges (here).
