The government announced Thursday it will delay the abolition of the state-run bar exam until 2021, amid continued controversy over the recently adopted law school system.
The Ministry of Justice decided to delay the abolition for four years from the planned 2017, citing public opinion poll results that called for improvement of the current law school system and retention of the state-run exam, its officials said during a press briefing.
Law schools were first introduced at universities seven years ago as an alternative to the bar exam, which is available to anyone regardless of academic background.
The adoption of law schools was aimed at increasing the number of attorneys so that the public can receive higher-quality legal services at lower fees through increased competition among law firms.
If the state bar exam is abolished, only those who study for three years at one of the 25 law schools across the country and pass the attorney-qualifying examination will be able to become lawyers, prosecutors or judges.
The system has been criticized as benefiting only those wealthy enough to afford law school, while depriving the economically disadvantaged of a chance to enter legal circles.
While the suspension is in effect, the government will review diverse measures to supplement the current law school system, such as introducing an exam that gives its passers the right to take the attorney-qualifying examination without a diploma from a law school, the ministry officials said. (Yonhap)
