Bar exam

Bar exam(변호사시험) is a nationally administered examination for admission to the practice of law. The bar exam differs from the judicial exam that the judicial exam was an admission test to the judicial research and training institute and did not admit the passers to admission to the bar. Anyone passing the judicial exam had to take 2 year training at the judicial research and training institute. The first bar exam was administered in January 2012.

Eligibility
To sit for the bar exam, one must be in his or her third year of or has graduated from any one of 25 law schools in Korea. A passing score in judicial ethics exam is required for to pass the bar exam.

Exam Overview
The exam is 4 day long and consists of multiple choice, essay and performance tests. The exam tests the substantive knowledge of public, civil and criminal law and skills necessary for the practice of law.

Sample Question
Question 1 On December 1st 2011, while G was opening A’s hand bag and taking a wallet with one credit card and one cash card, G ran away with the purse when A discovered it near Seocho Seven Eleven at Seocho-dong 123 Seocho-gu Seoul Korea. A along with policeman P1, who was Seocho Police Department who was on duty and patrolling in uniform, chased G. G, trying to evade them, met E whom he shared a cell while they were in jail. G told what happened to E and asked for help. E agreed. G and E each took a broken soju glass bottle and hit P1 with it injuring P1 with facial injury requiring four weeks in hospital. Then G ran away and E was arrested on site for flagrant offender. December 1st 2011, at 15:00, G, on the way home, used A’s credit card to purchase 500,000 Won worth of clothing and withdrew 1,000,000 Won from an ATM using A’s cash card. P2 who was investigating the incident above, 21:00 on December 1st 2011, emergency arrested G about 25 meters away from G’s house, who was just leaving the house. P2 immediately took G to his house, went in with him and seized A’s credit card which was in his draw in his bedroom. Later P2 obtained a valid search and seizure warrant on the credit card. The prosecutor charged G and E as co-defendants.
 * 1. Discuss the criminal liability of G.
 * 2. Discuss the criminal liability of E.
 * 3. When G denied all wrongdoings, the prosecutor submitted A’s credit card which were seized at G’s house. Discuss the admissibility of the credit card as evidence.
 * 4. The first court of instance found not guilty for withdrawing cash using the cash card but found guilty of the rest of charges and sentenced 5 years in prison. The prosecutor appealed  not guilty verdict.  If the appellate court finds the prosecutor’s appeal to have merit, discuss the scope of ruling and remedy that the court of appeals can deliver.

Question 2 Complainant G filed a criminal complaint against E at Seocho Police Station for the reason that “E, pressuring G to pay back the loan, broke the rib bones resulting in four weeks in hospitals arguing that E should pay back the loan by casualty insurance. Now finding that he can’t get his way, blackmailing G to pay back the loan.” Receiving the complaint, policeman P1 received a valid search and seizure warrant from the judge and searched loan shark E’s office and seized the lease agreement under G’s name, loan agreement,casualty insurance policy, E’s diary and company business records. Sifting through the seized documents, P2 asked E “did you file for insurance payout?” and E answered, “

International Business Transactions
Question 1 A Corp is an corporation with its principal place of business in Seoul, Korea and engages in the business of selling and wholesaling the machineries. A Corp has signed a contract to buy cutting tools from Corp B, which has its own business location in Tokyo, Japan. Immediately after signing the contract, B Corp ran into difficulty procuring the raw materials as a result of the global financial crisis and B Corp has delayed the delivery of the cutting tools to A Corp.

In the meantime, B Corp sent its employee to Korea to expand its business and the employee hired X and Y after interview and signed an employment contract with them for one year. After signing, X and Y went to Japan and began working at B Corp’s Tokyo office. After two weeks, X and Y took a day off and went outside Tokyo. They ran into a quarrel and X has injured Y. B Corp terminated their employment at once for the incident. When this happened X and Y were domiciled in Seoul Korea.

For the purpose of this question, it is assumed that for both the sales contract between A Corp and B Corp and the employment contract between X and Y, neither express nor implicit agreement was made regarding the governing law.

1. (30 points) A Corp wants to bring a suit against B Corp to recover damages for delay in delivery of the cutting tools. Answer each question below.


 * (1) (15 points) If a dispute arises between A Corp and B Corp, discuss whether the Korean court has jurisdiction over the matter, (i) if there was a written agreement to give the district court of Tokyo, exclusive international jurisdiction, and (ii) if there was no agreement whatsoever regarding jurisdiction.


 * (2) (15 points) If the Korean court has jurisdiction over the matter, which law governs? Discuss.

2. (20 points) Y wants to sue X for battery. Which law governs? Discuss.

3. (30 points) X and Y want to sue B Corp for wrongful termination of employment. In which country’s court can they bring the suit and which law governs in that court? Discuss.

Bar Passage
The passage rate for the bar exam differs as some law schools are as high as 100% while some are around 70%.

Admission to the Bar
Any successful takers of the bar exam are admitted to the Korean bar but he or she still has to undergo six month practical training before he or she could represent clients on his or her own.