According to Hwang, who served as the secretary general at the Korean Bar Association, the number of KBA-registered lawyers was 21,776 as of October 11 of last year, which was a near 260-percent increase from ten years ago, at 8,429 in 2006. (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Dec. 28 (Korea Bizwire) – A 59-year-old lawyer named Hwang Yong-hwan said Wednesday that he filed a constitutional appeal claiming that appointing 1,500 lawyers every year is threatening the livelihood of existing lawyers.
“The sixth bar exam (for lawyers), scheduled for next year, will admit some 1,500 new lawyers, the same as before, and it is a violation of a lawyer’s right to a livelihood,” he said in the appeal filed to the Constitutional Court of Korea. “Over the past few years, since the implementation of the exam, the number of lawyers in the country has increased dramatically.”
The first national bar was held in 2012, following the introduction of law schools here in 2009.
According to Hwang, who served as the secretary general at the Korean Bar Association, the number of KBA-registered lawyers was 21,776 as of October 11 of last year, which was a near 260-percent increase from ten years ago, at 8,429 in 2006.
Hwang added that the number of cases assigned to an average Seoul Bar Association lawyer every month was 1.69 in the first half of 2016, arguing that a majority of lawyers, except for those at bigger law firms, struggle to find a single case each month.
“Lawyers still need to earn a livelihood, and it’s irresponsible for the Ministry of Justice to appoint a soaring number of lawyers without proper plans,” said Hwang. “As citizens of the country, lawyers too have the right to have their livelihood guaranteed.”
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
