New jury system fails to meet expectations

New jury system fails to meet expectations

The jury system, introduced last January for the first time in the nation's judicial history, may not be meeting expectations, according to a ruling party lawmaker.

As of the end of this August, only 409 among 231,508 criminal case trials had been filed to the court as participatory trials, said Rep. Chang Yoon-seok of the ruling Grand National Party at the parliamentary audit yesterday.

Of them, only 104 cases percent were actually tried in the requested format, among which 77 cases concerned felonies such as murder (49 cases) and robbery (28 cases), the prosecutor-turned-lawmaker said.

Sex offenses followed with 17 cases.

"Environment or public health-related lawsuits have not yet been included in the participatory trial list, though they also form a major social issue, concerning a large number of victims," he said.

In 43.4 percent of cases, either party would appeal to the higher court, but 72.7 percent end up being dismissed, the lawmaker also said.

A total of 3,397 jurors or 31.6 percent dutifully showed up in court and except in 12 cases, the jury's verdict was in accord with that of the bench, according to the data.

The average time taken from filing the suit to final verdict was 79 days, slightly shorter than the general average of 88.5 days for arrest cases and 125.1 for nonarrest cases.

The participatory trial system, though its effects are non-binding, marked a major judicial reform in the Korean court since the modern judicial system was established in 1895.

It was introduced to reinforce fairness of verdicts and promote the basic rights of citizens.

"The participatory trial system has over the past 22 months failed to induce the true judicial participation of the people," Chang said. "It may end up as a superficial public performance unless it actively enlarges its coverage."

The court, however, will make further efforts so that the present jury system, though limited in function at its initial stage, may work as an important tool to reflect public legal sentiment in the trials, said a court official.

When a child rapist was recently sentenced to 12 years in jail, public outrage flared over the relatively light sentence and blamed the present law system along with the court's leniency.

(tellme@heraldm.com)

By Bae Hyun-jung

2009.10.21