독일의 변호사 양성제도와 시사점

The German lawyer training system is strictly divided into two parts: law education in law college and practical training in the Judicial Research & Training Institute, based on the principle of division of labor. In Germany, the state uniformly manages the system with the aim of ensuring that the quality of law education and training is maintained at a certain level and all lawyers are qualified as judges. In Germany, the law education of law college is the starting point for the training of lawyers. The German law education does not focus on training legally competent social workers, but focus on training legal experts. Germany has undergone several reforms and changes in the lawyer training system. Above all, what functions as the fundamental framework for the Germany’s present lawyer education and training system is related to the implementation of the Lawyer Training Reform Act in 2003. Under this Act, a fundamental change has been made from the previous judge-centered training system to the lawyer-centered training system. The law college is focusing on training in the key areas corresponding to the specialized fields and elevating the problem-solving ability as well. In Germany, law college graduates passing the first exam acquire practical experiences necessary for the legal profession at each state’s training institution similar to the Korea’s former Judicial Research & Training Institute for two years. After that, those who pass the second national exam become complete lawyers (Volljurist) at last. The German lawyer education and training system is characterized by: ① Training unified lawyers (Einheitsjuristen), ② Two-step process of law education at law schools and practical training at judicial training institute, ③ Securing quality level through national examinations, and ④ Training of lawyers through both the Judge Made Law as Federal Act and each state’s law education and lawyer training system. Germany has the system in which those who are qualified as judges are selected and trained and allowed to act as professor, judge, prosecutor, administrative lawyer or attorney. Their grades are disclosed, and their careers, such as professors, judges, prosecutors, government officials, etc. are also strictly determined by achievement. The review of such German lawyer’s training system aims to contribute to ① continuous reform of the lawyer training system in parallel with the changes of the era, ② continuous reform to improve the quality of lawyers and secure international competitiveness, ③ emphasis on the importance of the curriculum at law college, ④ shift of focus on lawyer training from judge-centered to lawyer-centered, ⑤ aiming at the two-stage model of law education at law college and judicial training, and ⑥ improvement of the Korea’s law school and lawyer systems by not only deriving implications such as materialization of lawyer training but also benchmarking the merits of the German lawyer training system.