Seoul Central District Court to create court supporting people with disabilities

The Seoul Central District Court has become the first court in the country to establish a specialized court for people with disabilities and a judicial support officer for people with disabilities to actively support the judicial process. The move was made in response to criticism that people with disabilities involved in or participating in trials often face difficulties because they are not provided with sufficient assistance according to the type and degree of their disabilities.

According to the legal circle on Wednesday, the Seoul Central District Court will establish a specialized courtroom for people with disabilities at the Criminal Court ahead of the court's regular personnel reshuffle next month. The specialized tribunal will be in charge of cases involving people with disabilities, such as defendants and victims of criminal cases. The Criminal Court had specialized tribunals for sex crimes, foreigners, and corruption cases previously, but this is the first time the Seoul Central District Court has set up a specialized tribunal for people with disabilities.

The specialized tribunal will provide Braille documents and sign language interpreters to people with disabilities to facilitate their participation in the trial process. Initially, the program will be piloted in cases under the jurisdiction of the Seoul Central District Court, but if the results are positive, the court will consider expanding the program to courts nationwide.

The reason the Seoul Central District Court is taking such a proactive role in supporting access to justice for people with disabilities is that the number of people with disabilities has been steadily increasing every year, with more and more people with disabilities going to trial or visiting the courts. According to the Health and Welfare Ministry, registered persons with disabilities reached 2.65 million, or 5.2 percent of the Korean population, as of 2022. Five out of every 100 people effectively have disabilities, but until now, courts have had no specialized department for those with disabilities.

In particular, Judge Kim Dong-hyun, who is visually impaired, was assigned to the Seoul Central District Court last year, raising awareness of the need for more judicial support for people with disabilities. "The idea is for the court to support people with disabilities to enable them to participate in the judicial process on an equal basis with people without disabilities, in accordance with the 'right to trial' stipulated in Article 27 of the Constitution,” an official from the Seoul Central District Court said.


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