'Pay cut, delayed payment... 'Passion pay' for public defenders
https://www.sisain.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=57138
The Court Administration Office revised the 'Regulations on Public Defenders' on August 1, last year. If a case is concluded with only written submissions in the appellate court (third instance), the basic attorney fee (approximately 550,000 won) paid to public defenders will be reduced by 50-80%. The Court Administration Office explained that this was an unavoidable measure to address budget shortages.
However, courts have actually failed to pay public defender fees on time and have been delaying payments for extended periods. Although the Regulations on Public Defenders stipulate that fees must be paid within 30 days of receiving a fee claim, there are many cases where payments are delayed for as short as three months or as long as nearly a year. Among lawyers, self-deprecating jokes such as "Shouldn't we file a lawsuit against the court?" have emerged in anonymous chat rooms.
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Public defenders are divided into public defender specialists and general public defenders. Public defender specialists receive a fixed monthly fee from the court and handle about 20-30 criminal cases per month. As this is considered experience helpful for judicial appointments, there are relatively many sincere and capable lawyers.
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In December last year, a budget bill was proposed to increase the basic fees of public defenders in the National Assembly plenary session, but it ultimately failed to pass. The proposal included an increase of 1 million won for public defender specialists and an increase from 550,000 won to 600,000 won for general public defenders. The fee for public defender specialists has been frozen for 19 years. As a result, general public defenders are enduring long delays in payment or choosing not to take on public defender cases at all. The competition rate for public defender specialists has decreased, and the number of lawyers who have given up applying for general public defender positions has also increased compared to previous years.
(Omitted)
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The article doesn't mention it, but I found out that a public defender 'specialist' makes 6 million won per month. Although it is a commissioned position and does not include the four major insurances, they provide an additional 600,000 won for office expenses. (https://bit.ly/4k0WanM)
While this may seem like a decent salary for the average person, it likely falls short of the expectations of those who have passed the bar exam (judicial examination). (Given the title "Passion Pay," I wonder if they are truly from another world @.@). This article makes me think that the attitude of public defenders in dramas, who always seem tired and reluctant to take on cases, is actually a reflection of reality. Of course, worrying about lawyers is probably as pointless as worrying about celebrities -0-
▶ Original source: https://www.sisain.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=57138
