Judge critical of President stripped of job

Judge critical of President stripped of job

Seo Gi-ho By Kim Rahn A liberal-minded judge, who tweeted messages ridiculing President Lee Myung-bak, has not been reappointed. The Supreme Court said Friday that its personnel management screening committee decided not to reappoint Judge Seo Gi-ho to the Seoul Northern District Court after “reviewing” his performance. Its decision came after Seo criticized the court and the government’s move to regulate judges’ use of social networking services (SNS), claiming it was a restriction on the freedom of expression. “The government, please monitor my tweets thoroughly. Don’t be intimidated, my fellow SNS friends. Or gakha (his highness, indicating Lee) will give you a big yeot (taffy),” he said on his Twitter and Facebook accounts in December. “Give you a big yeot” is slang for big insult.” The top court said Seo has shown poor performance, however, he and his supporters claim it was a retaliatory move against the 42-year-old for openly criticizing the Lee administration. Judges’ performances are evaluated every 10 years. The committee decided that among 180 judges with 10 or 20 years experience, about five, including Seo, were “unqualified” to remain presiding in courts. Those categorized as “unqualified” usually quit voluntarily. But Seo criticized its assessment of his performances. “Recalling my career of 10 years, I don’t think I was too bad to continue my duties. My performance rating is not that poor. The committee should present detailed reasons for the disqualification,” Seo said. He said he will take legal action, such as petitioning the Constitutional Court, to regain his post. Earlier last month, the committee told Seo that he was in the “unqualified category” as his rating was in the bottom 2 percent. It said he was rated “low” five times during the 10 years. Responding to the move, he disclosed his performance rating record, which the committee sent him on the court’s Intranet. According to the records, he had 628 new cases in 2010 and made rulings on 670 cases including cases rolled over from the previous year — a higher performance than the national average. About 93 percent of his cases closed without appeals, also higher than the average. His 2011 performance was slightly lower than the national average. “The evaluation should not be used to ‘train’ judges, making them voluntarily resign or refrain from expressing opinions critical of the government or the judiciary. Outside pressure on the evaluation will make judges avoid speaking their opinion for the court’s improvement,” Seo said on the Intranet. He also said the evaluation was carried out unfairly and behind closed doors, adding the process should be transparent, fair and reasonable. Seo’s supporters claim the disqualification came because he has been critical of the Lee administration and made comments against high-ranking judges. In 2009 when it was found that then Supreme Court Justice Shin Young-chul attempted to meddle in junior judges’ trials on anti-U.S. beef import ralliers, Seo led junior judges’ collective action calling for Shin’s resignation. Since that year, Seo’s rating was “low” for three consecutive years