Today South Korea, Tomorrow the World
Posted: February 12th, 2008
By: Zach Heller
Category: Opinion Corner, The News Beat

I read an article today boasting that South Korea held its first “trial by jury” today as part of a larger overall judiciary reform.  This means, that in a country where trials were heard and decided by a judge alone, are now heard by a jury and decided by a judge. 

At first, like most other people who read the article I am sure, I was very content with the direction the country is moving.  I thought to myself, that’s the first step, now keep it up.  But that got me thinking.  As an American, am I so biased to our judicial system that I think every other country should operate the same way.  Who am I to say what type of judicial system would work the best in any country?  Is a trial by jury any more fair or just than a trial heard and decided by a lone judge?

In my mind, I think it very American of each and every one of us to assume we know the solution to everyone’s problems.  We like to think that we do things the right way and that everyone else had better do it our way or else they are doomed to fail.  But for once, I think this topic could get the conversation started on whether or not we really know what we are doing at all.  I am interested to hear back from all attorneys, judges, and civilians alike to see what types of thoughts people have on this subject.  More to come…

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