When we watched the news of "Judge Accused for Repeatedly Posting Inappropriate Posts on Social Networking Sites," my wife said,

Wife: "What happens when a judge commits a crime?"

Me: "What are you talking about? There will be an 'impeachment trial(*)'

(*) Article 64, Section 1 of the Constitution and the Act of Impeachment of Judges

When I said this, my wife and second said in unison.

"'Impeachment Trial' I remember. We did that in middle school when we were taking exams"

They spoke each other nostalgically.

Education is powerless -- and I realized that.

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Incidentally, an impeachment trial not only allows a judge to be removed from office (fired). The sanctions are severe.

In addition to losing their status as judges, they are disqualified from becoming prosecutors or attorneys, and are restricted from becoming notaries.

They cannot be mediators, judicial commissioners, or counsellors, are not entitled to retirement benefits, and their pensions are limited.

And since the impeachment court is a single and final instance, the judgment becomes final upon pronouncement and there is no way to appeal.

It seems that a request for a retrial can be made, but there have been no previous cases.

However, it seems that after five years, it is possible to regain the qualification to practice law -- "relief of needy life" and "improvement of character" were some of the reasons seen.

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The only thing I remembered about the impeachment trial was the "phony phone call" in the Lockheed case -- but I did a little research.

"Stalker"

"Child Prostitution"

"Video recording in skirt"

Some judges were impeached on the most vulgar grounds, like the above.

It seems that even if the judge is against you, you can still file a lawsuit in a general criminal or civil case.

However, it appears that the conviction of the trial court does not disqualify the judge.

The guarantee of a judge's status is very strong, and only through an impeachment trial can a judge be removed from office.

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This impeachment trial of a "judge accused of repeatedly posting inappropriate posts on social networking sites" is the 10th case in the postwar period, and impeachment trials themselves seem to be extremely rare.

Well, if it wasn't a rare case, we would be in trouble.