By Lee Kyung-min
The Supreme Court asked judges Friday to watch their language online following a series of controversies caused by comments they posted recently.
Under the court’s new guidelines for use of the Internet, judges are required not to use expressions that are politically biased, insulting, coercive, lewd or vulgar in expressing their views online.
Openly discussing any cases in trial was also banned.
Under the code of conduct for judges, they are required at all times to maintain impartiality, uphold the integrity of the judiciary community and refrain from engaging in political activities.
This marks the first time the Supreme Court has issued guidelines for judges’ online conduct.
“The same level of code of conduct should be required for their online activities,” a judge said.
The move came after a Suwon District Court judge resigned, taking responsibility for disputes over some 10,000 online slurs he made over the past seven years.
The judge, surnamed Lee, posted many of his politically biased comments using vulgar language on Ilbe, a notorious online community website full of extreme right-wing views.
Under the guidelines, the court has banned judges from using derogatory terms under any circumstances.
“In expressing personal political views, judges are not to use expressions that are insulting, coercive, lewd or vulgar,” the court said. “Nor are they allowed to express bias based on gender, age, race, income level or sexual orientation.
“Judges are not to divulge detailed information that had not been made public, such as the identities of the plaintiffs, defendants or witnesses. Also, they should refrain from rationalizing one’s ruling, and should not opine about the result either.”