Judicial professions

Judicial professions (법조인/法曹人) mean a professional of judge, public prosecutor or attorney-at-law, which is called three wheels of legal profession (법조삼륜/法曹三輪).

In Korea, other relevant judicial professions such as notary public, judicial scrivener and enforcement officer take part in the judiciary system by doing their own job as stated by law.

Judges
See the Judge (판사/判事).

Public Prosecutors
Public prosecutors (검사/檢事) are representatives of the public interest who investigate crimes, indict suspects as well as direct and supervise the police in the investigation of crimes. It is also the public prosecutors that supervise the execution of criminal judgments after such judgments become final and conclusive.

The qualifications for public prosecutors are the same as those for judges. Public prosecutors are appointed among those who completed training program at the JRTI those who are certified as lawyers. Public prosecutors are subject to direct order and supervision of their superiors within the public prosecution circles headed by the Prosecutor General. Each Public Prosecutors' Office is established corresponding to each level of Court.

Attorney-at-Law
The duties of an attorney-at-law (변호사/辯護士) is to perform acts related to lawsuits, representation on claims for administrative dispositions or other general legal affairs as delegated by parties or other persons concerned or as commissioned by State, local governments or public agencies. Attorneys-at-law are provided with the mission to defend human rights and realize social justice.

Qualifications for attorneys-at-law includes any person falling under the any of the following criteria : a person who has completed the required curriculum of the JRTI after passing the National Judicial Examination or a person who is qualified as a judge or a public prosecutor.

Notary Publics
The duties of notaries public (공증인/公證人) include preparation of notarial deeds on juristic acts or facts concerning any other public right and authentication on deeds signed by a private person or an electronic document. A notary public may prepare a notarial deed stating the intention to accept the compulsory execution attached to a bill or check. The mentioned notorial deed can only be prepared under the commission of a payee and drawee, transferor and transfee of a bill or a check, or an agent thereof.

Notary publics are appointed by the Minister of Justice from among persons who are qualified as judges, public prosecutors, or lawyers. Each notary public belong to the district public prosecutors' office. The Minister of Justice may also grant authorization for authentication to any person who meets the following: a law firm, law firm with limited liability, or judicial association established under the Attorney-at-Law Act. No less than two of the constituent attorney-at-law of the relevant law firm, etc. may be qualified as an attorney-at-law in charge of authentication. In the absence of a notary public in the jurisdiction of a district public prosecutors' office or a notary public is unable to perform the provided duties, or it is recognized as necessary for the convenience of the residents, the Minister of Justice may have a public prosecutor or the chief of a registry office in the jurisdiction to perform the duties of a notary public.

Judicial Scriveners
Judicial scriveners (법무사/法務士) perform such duties as preparation of documents to present to a court or the public prosecutor's office, preparation of documents necessary for registration or application for registration or deposit. A judicial scrivener is under the supervision of a local Certified Judicial Scriveners Association, the Korean Certified Judicial Scriveners Association and the Chief Judge of the district court under jurisdiction.

A person who has passed the Judicial Scrivener Examination is qualified as a certified judicial scrivener. Also, a person who has served as a public official for not less than 10 years, engaging in court affairs, registration affairs, prosecutory affairs, the Constitutional Court, or Public Prosecutors' Offices, and who is deemed by the Chief Justice to have knowledge in law as well as competence required for performance of the duties of judicial scrivener may be qualified.

Enforcement Officers
Enforcement officers (집달관/執達官) are independent, extra-judicial officers engaged in the execution of judgment rulings, the service of documents under the command of district courts. They are not public officials but are under the supervision of the chief judge of the competent district court. However, enforcement officers receive fees not from the court, but from the party concerned.

The chief judge of a district court appoints enforcement officers among persons who have served for not less ten years as public officials of grade VII in the courts, registry offices, public prosecutors' offices, or drug enforcement agencies. The term of office is four years with no consecutive appointment and retirement age is 61.