Episode 25

The ‘Constitutional Court’ professor was a middle-aged man with a short stature.

He appeared in the lecture hall exactly seven minutes after the class was supposed to start, and for some reason, with a face full of displeasure, he blurted out,

“I’m telling you.”

His grumpy voice settled over the lecture hall.

“I really don’t like the current state of legal education.”

‘Oh, for crying out loud, here we go again.’

“Let me ask you one thing. Do you know how the laws of our country were made? Number 3, Go Tae-kyung.”

“Uh, representing the collective will of the people….”

“Aish. That’s just a general theory. I’m talking about the laws of this country, this country.”

The Constitutional Court professor got agitated.

“It’s all copied. We copied German law, we copied Japanese law. Huh? From the very beginning, the foundation of legal discourse is without roots. The judges are also a bunch who just memorized things to get where they are, so they don’t even know the legal principles and just make rulings as they please. Absolutely.”

Correction.

It wasn’t just ‘here we go again’ level.

Today, he was particularly venomous.

“It’s different in Germany or France. They have a history of law that has developed over hundreds of years through interaction with social realities.”

He cleared his throat, hmm hmm, as if warming up.

It was a signal that he was about to begin in earnest.

“To fundamentally understand legal principles, you need to study legal history, and you need to be able to examine Roman law, modern German and French law, and our legal system from a comparative legal perspective.”

Then, the Constitutional Court professor rattled off the names of all sorts of renowned foreign legal scholars.

Savigny, Kaufmann, Radbruch, Schmitt…

“Don’t just blindly worship precedents. Last time, there was a student who came to argue with me, saying that a Supreme Court precedent was different from my explanation. That’s because I’m right and the Supreme Court is wrong!”

Ah. So that’s why he was so angry today.

“……Is he allowed to say that? That the Supreme Court is wrong and he’s right.”

Han Seol whispered from beside me.

“Well, it’s not something that we can just dismiss as nonsense.”

In fact, no matter how much of a stubborn old man he seemed, the things that the Constitutional Court professor was saying weren’t entirely worthless.

In academia, he was an excellent researcher who had written numerous papers and showed a wide range of activities.

Just because legal scholars say something different from precedents doesn’t mean that it’s all just armchair theorizing.

The world is constantly changing, and social common sense and moral norms are also fluid.

The abortion law, which was once considered a sin, has now been ruled unconstitutional.

In those moments of decisive change, when existing positions have to be overturned, the materials that judges and court researchers refer to are the legal theories that legal scholars have researched.

“Maybe someday, a new precedent will be established that follows our Constitutional Court professor’s minority opinion.”

“Hmm….”

Then, it would become a brilliant achievement that would decorate the tower of his academic accomplishments, and the Constitutional Court professor would be able to brag about it during his lectures.

‘But that’s that.’

We, who were listening to the lecture, were not academic researchers.

We weren’t graduate students who were following the professor’s research.

Although the official name of the law school was ‘Graduate School of Law,’ the word ‘professional’ was clearly stamped on it.

A professional educational institution that trains professionals.

Our goal was to pass the exam and become those professionals.

The problem was that the answers and grading criteria for that exam were based on precedents.

That was because it made for a clean problem without any room for disputes about the answers.

It wasn’t for nothing that the phrase ‘in case of dispute, follow the precedents’ was inserted into every multiple-choice question.

Of course, it was important to know the general legal principles that were the background of the issues.

However, it was more important to know the conclusion of the precedents that had woven them together.

Because that was what determined whether you passed the exam or not.

Therefore, deeper exploration and the securing of expertise should be done through practical experience, not in the lecture hall.

But the scholar-type professors often failed to recognize this fact.

‘Or maybe they do know, but they’re just ignoring it.’

“I know that precedents are on the exam and that they are the grading criteria. But if you just cling to precedents like you’re memorizing the answers, you’ll never become a good lawyer even if you pass the exam. Do you understand? Number 24, Yoo Tae-woon!”

“Uh, uh… But, Professor, you’re not a lawyer, are you?”

“Cough, wh, what!”

The Constitutional Court professor staggered for a moment at Yoo Tae-woon’s innocent question.

In fact, Yoo Tae-woon probably didn’t mean anything by it.

But to this proud legal scholar, it might have sounded like a sarcastic remark about how someone who couldn’t even become a lawyer was talking about being a good lawyer.

‘Come to think of it, that guy gave up after failing the bar exam six times in his younger days and went to study in Germany.’

If so, it was like pouring salt on an open wound.

“Th, thaaat…!”

Han Seol chuckled quietly at the Constitutional Court professor’s red face.

Looking around, everyone was holding back their laughter, as if they were glad that the stubborn old man had been put in his place.

“Let’s move on! Open to page 64!”

The Constitutional Court professor’s lecture was notorious to begin with, but today it was especially burdensome.

He would rattle off theories of Western legal scholars that weren’t even in the lecture notes, or he would get fixated on a particular concept and talk about it for an entire hour.

By the time the lecture was over, everyone was exhausted and slumped over their desks.

“This is a disaster… How am I supposed to study for this subject?”

Han Seol muttered in a tired voice.

“We’ll have to study for the bar exam separately with the study books. What else can we do?”

“It’s the internal grades that are the problem. Since the lectures are like this, I have no idea what I’m supposed to study.”

“The student council collects and manages past internal exam questions. How about looking at those?”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Han Seol opened her smartphone and accessed the database provided by the student council.

Then, among the folders with the names of various subjects, she found the one titled ‘Constitutional Law I’ and tapped it.

“What is this?”

But Han Seol, who was looking at the screen, muttered in dismay.

Wondering what it was, I leaned in and immediately understood her reaction.

[Question 1. Compare and contrast the legislative examples of basic rights in Korea and Germany from a comparative legal perspective, and critique the following Constitutional Court precedent. (200 points)]

Oh my god. What is this, seriously?

“……Should I drop this course?”

“Calm down. This is a required course, you can’t drop it.”

A long-form essay question that was like something out of a Joseon Dynasty civil service exam suddenly popped up.

And we were supposed to be learning and taking an exam about Korean law, but what kind of order was it to write about German legislative examples?

The students around us, who had heard our conversation, also opened their smartphones one by one, and then they covered their heads and groaned.

Even the smartest Korea University law school students were at a loss for what to do when they were told to study the laws of another country.

But let’s change our perspective.

An exam that everyone was confused about and had no way to prepare for.

‘In other words, if we can somehow prepare for it properly, it’s also an opportunity to easily get a high score.’

“Han Seol. Temporary alliance.”

“?”

“I have a strategy to do well on the exam that the Constitutional Court professor is giving. But I need your help to make it happen.”

“……A strategy? For a subject like this?”

Han Seol looked skeptical, but she quickly nodded.

“Okay. What do I need to do?”

“Oh, you agreed pretty quickly.”

“I don’t know what to do on my own anyway… And the results have always been good when I’ve followed your suggestions so far.”

Han Seol smiled slightly.

“It’s so strange. When I was first put in the same group as you, it felt like the whole world was collapsing, but now, when I face any kind of challenge, I feel like I can somehow get through it if you’re there.”

‘……She’s saying some embarrassing things.’

It wasn’t a bad feeling.

Being recognized and trusted for the results of the things that I had done was always a rewarding experience.

Especially the trust that I received from someone as outstanding as Han Seol had even greater value.

I cleared my throat, hmm hmm, to dispel the awkward atmosphere and opened my mouth.

“First, we need to gather people. About… six people would be perfect.”

“Six people?”

“Let’s see. Me. You. Lee Ha-roo. If we call Yoo Tae-woon, he’ll probably come too. Can you recruit about two more people?”

I, who lacked popularity, couldn’t gather people.

As my activities in the pre-law program and the last legal clinic had spread, the number of people who doubted my skills had decreased a lot.

But the number of people who trusted my personality was still much smaller than that.

Last time, I was just walking down the hallway without thinking, and every time I made eye contact with a fellow student, they would all sneakily avoid me.

Among them was Bae Hyun-joong, who I had thoroughly crushed.

‘That guy is one thing, but why are the others still like that?’

“I guess so.”

Han Seol nodded.

“Even if I say that I’m not the old Park Yoo-seung, no one believes me. My classmates from undergrad asked me if you had some kind of hold on me.”

“I’ve heard that too. Those kinds of rumors.”

Lee Ha-roo, who had suddenly appeared, chimed in.

“They said that Park Yoo-seung is a dangerous guy, and they were telling me that if I was being tricked, I should run away quickly, since I might not know because I’m from a different department.”

‘These guys….’

I thought that if I was recognized for my growth in skills, my image would naturally improve a bit.

But it seemed that the rumors about Park Yoo-seung were changing from a life-wasting troublemaker to a cunning villain who approached and exploited talented women.

Perhaps they were speculating that that was the secret to my rapid growth in skills.

“Anyway, that’s why I want you to gather people.”

Han Seol had been a class representative in her undergraduate years, and she had also been the president of a club.

How she had managed to manage her relationships so well while studying so hard every day was a mystery.

At least, I could say with certainty that there was no one better than Han Seol when it came to recruiting people.

“Okay, leave it to me.”

A cheerful agreement was given.

‘That’s it.’

Even if I, a lump of trouble, was attached, with Han Seol’s popularity and credibility, she would be able to somehow find two more people.

Of course, whether those applicants would be good enough to be satisfactory was a separate issue.

But now wasn’t the time to be picky.

We were in a hurry, so we had to be grateful for anyone who would come.

However, I soon realized that I was making a huge mistake.

* * *

“Hey.”

“Uh, yeah?”

“What is this situation?”

Two days later.

I asked, pointing at Han Seol’s smartphone screen.

Han Seol’s inbox on the screen was filled with messages from over twenty applicants.

[202x0003 Go Tae-kyung here! Is there still a spot in the Constitutional Law I study group? ㅠㅠ]

[202x0147 Han Yoo-hwa here!]

[202x0091……]

[……]

Each one was filled with messages begging to be chosen.

“I did a little bit of promotion.”

“That’s not a little bit, that’s a lot.”

Honestly, it seemed like people had flocked to her just because Han Seol was the one recruiting.

The name value of the top student in Korea University’s business school and the second-ranked student in the law school was much more powerful than I had thought.

“V.”

Han Seol held out her hand and made a V sign.

No matter how I looked at it, she had caught that from hanging out with Lee Ha-roo.

Of course, it was a good thing. Since there were so many applicants, we could choose the friends who would listen well and do their work cleanly without having to compromise.

‘But there are too many.’

It was like we had to hold an interview.

I was about to think about making a list of candidates when I scrolled down the screen.

“Huh?”

Then, I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I had seen it wrong.

‘What.’

Why was this person here?