법학전문대학원의 과목구성과 상사법 교육의 발전방향

Abstract

The primary objective of introducing the Law School System is to establish a systematic training program for the development of judicial officers. However, when considering the reality of students being pre-occupied with mandatory subjects and lawyer qualification test related courses, it becomes difficult to integrate selective courses based on individual’s major and academic interest during the three years of Law School attendance. As for the students, the primary goal upon entrance has become to pass the lawyer qualification test since this will ultimately determine their career. Course selections are no longer based on undergraduate major or specialty as students are focusing more on lawyer qualification test related courses while the schools are also primarily focusing on increasing the overall passing rate for the lawyer qualification test. The current situation is conflicting of the original purpose in introducing the Law School System for the jurist training through rigorous education. In order to overcome this challenge, we suggest adopting the United States’ lawyer qualification examination method by having a set passing score which would enable those who passed this set score to become licensed. This approach will allow students to select courses based on field of interest and future career path, and lead to the restoration of a professional and varietal Law School education system. Meanwhile, according to the Attorneys-at-Law Act all Law School graduates upon passing the lawyer qualification test are required to carry out a 6 month mandatory training. The 6 month lawyer training was introduced by the amended Attorney-at-Law Act as follows: ① engagement in legal affairs or training at the ‘agency engaging in legal affairs’ designated by Ministry of Justice ② completion of training conducted by Korean Bar Association (in between April ~ October). When a person who passed the lawyer qualification test fails to fulfill the above 6 month training requirement by engaging in legal affairs or completing the Korean Bar Association training, he/she is restricted from jointly or individually accepting any case. In this country Law Schools are fostering the judge, prosecutor, lawyer – to –be rather than the completed end result of a jurist. Hence, commercial law within the Law School curriculum should be customized to align to the educational needs of a jurist-to-be. Cultivating legal application capability based on jurist like legal thinking should be the primary focus. Law Schools need to establish an educational platform that cultivate continued development of ability to apply appropriate legal provisions for specific cases and also, analyze and comprehend various social cases and situations from a legal assessment point of view.