NCJ Number
72488
Date Published
1979
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Various types of legal aid schemes have been instituted in Korea since 1953, among which is the Government program known as the Korean Legal Aid Association (KLAA).
Abstract
The scarcity of lawyers deprives many people of legal aid, and the cost of retaining a lawyer is comparatively high. Furthermore, the unavailability of lawyers in Korea exaggerates their social status and mystique. The system of State-appointed defense counsel in criminal proceedings has long existed, but the reluctant attitudes of these appointed lawyers have reduced the effectiveness of the system. In July 1972, a government-authorized legal aid organization was established to provide equal protection under the law and render legal aid to every underprivileged person who, because of poverty or illiteracy could not obtain adequate legal remedies. The procedures are such that the client applies for aid with a district office; the director of the office takes up the case with the district committee; the committee makes the final decision (for cases over 1 million yen the central committee assists); an attorney is appointed; the director of the district office, the client, and the attorney enter into a legal aid contract; and the attorney carries out the case in accordance with the terms of the contract. When the case is completed, the committee determines all the fees paid and requests either a refund by the client or a waiver of the refund payment. Of the 6,638 applications the KLAA has received, only 1,385 were rejected. The likelihood of the applicant's success in court is an important factor in the decision to grant or refuse legal aid. Legal aid is also exclusively linked to the traditional right of individual access to the courts. No legal aid program in Korea has ever been motivated by religious feelings or as a liberal social cause. Thus, many of the illiterate, uneducated, and misinformed are still left unaffected by the legal aid efforts. Seven references are provided.