"Blocking the Vicious Cycle of Drug Crimes, Judicial Reform Needed"... Need for Drug Court Introduction

[Financial News] A policy forum for the introduction of the 'Drug Courts' system will be held at 2 p.m. on the 16th at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. It is expected to be an opportunity to break the vicious cycle of drug addiction recidivism.
The forum is co-hosted by Financial News and Assemblyman Seo Young-seok of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, and organized by the Korea Social Welfare Council (SSN). The Korean Academy of Forensic Psychiatry will participate as a cooperating organization.
The drug court refers to a system in which the judiciary intervenes in the entire criminal litigation process to monitor the treatment of addiction for drug offenders. The purpose is to prioritize providing treatment for drug dependence over criminal punishment for drug offenders.
According to the 'Drug Crime White Paper' published by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 15th, the number of drug offenders last year was 23,022, nearly double the 11,916 in 2015, ten years ago. The recidivism rate was also found to be 10% higher than that of general criminal offenses, reaching 34.5%.
At the forum, Kim Han-gyun, president of the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice Policy (senior research fellow at the Korea Institute of Criminology and Justice), will present on the topic of 'The Necessity and Legal Challenges of Introducing Drug Courts as Problem-Solving Courts.'
Kim explained the necessity of introducing drug courts by stating, "Solving the drug problem as a social issue begins with addressing the individual problems of drug addicts," and "In the systematic and comprehensive response of the criminal justice system to solve the issues of drug use and addiction treatment and rehabilitation, it is necessary to reflect on the problem-solving roles and functions of the courts and judges, in addition to the police, prosecution, correctional institutions, and treatment and protection agencies."
The forum will be chaired by Cho Seong-nam, president of the Korean Academy of Forensic Psychiatry (Seoul Metropolitan Drug Management Center director and former director of the National Forensic Hospital of the Ministry of Justice), and will include participation from Park Kyung-seop, representative lawyer of Law Firm F&L Partners (former head of the Drug and Organized Crime Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office), Park Jin-sil, representative lawyer of Law Firm Jin-sil (former member of the Drug Policy Council), Lee Sang-kyu, professor of psychiatry at Hallym University Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, and Kim Dong-kyu, reporter for Financial News' social department (drug correspondent).


kyu0705@fnnews.com Kim Dong-kyu Reporter