Prosecutors and judges have no principle

Japanese movie "I just didn't do (2007)," is directed by Japanese film director Masayuki Suo who is famous for another movie "Shall We Dance." It is a story of a man, who is mistaken as having committed sexual harassment, struggling at the court claiming not guilty. His first lawyer told him that the possibility of being ruled as guilty is 99.9 percent recommending him admit the crime and receive a penalty sentence. Here, 99.9 percent is not only applied in the movie but is the number in reality.

In Japan, the first trial judge considers it impossible to overturn the prosecutor's charge unless the he or she risks stepping down. If he ruled not guilty but is overturned at the higher court, he may have to step down. However, it the judge really can't accept and thus rule not guilty and it is maintained at the higher court, the prosecutor has to step down. The spirit of making the utmost effort betting one's career in Japan is something to respect.

In Korea, judges and prosecutors take a "whatever" approach. Former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo was ruled not guilty at the appeals court Tuesday on the alleged taking of illegal political funds. Judges said among the memos and audio files that the late Keangnam Enterprise Chairman Sung Wan-jong left, the parts on Lee have come to rule out any room for reasonable suspicion. The first trial judged the opposite using the same evidence. There is no logic behind such different judgement. They just judged that way. This raises criticisms that Korea's criminal case judgement has no value for research.

The prosecutor who indicted the person who was a prime minister just a month ago would have inevitably stepped down if it was in Japan. If the first trial judge ruled guilty but was overturned at the higher court, the judge would also have stepped down. Not in Korea, however. Frequently, the prosecutor who lost or the judge whose ruling was overturned becomes better off. The ruling at the appeals court can also always be overturned at the Supreme Court. Who can accept the indictment and ruling in this kind of environment?

송평인기자 pisong@donga.com