조진만 趙鎭滿
5th Minister of Justice and 3rd and 4th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Korea
| Life | 1903 ~ 1979 |
| Era | 일제강점기~대한민국 |
| Clan | 배천 조씨 |
Life & career
Jo Jin-man (20 October 1903 - 12 February 1979) was a Korean jurist of the Baecheon Jo clan who served as the 5th Minister of Justice and the 3rd and 4th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Born around Unbuk-dong in present-day Jung-gu, Incheon, he graduated from the Gyeongseong Law School in 1923 and in 1925 became the first Korean to pass the Japanese higher civil service examination in the judicial section. During the colonial period he served as judge at the Haeju District Court from 1927, then at the Pyongyang District and Appeal Courts and the Daegu Appeal Court, was presiding judge of the Daegu District Court, and opened a law practice in 1943.
After liberation he was Minister of Justice from May 1951 to March 1952, reopened a law practice in 1952, became the first president of the Seoul First Bar Association in 1960 and adviser to the Minister of Justice in 1961. In July 1961, recommended by Park Chung-hee, chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, he was appointed 3rd Chief Justice in the name of President Yun Bo-seon, and from February 1964 served as the 4th Chief Justice until October 1968. He is said to have reviewed case files from lower courts whenever he could to gauge judges' ability and reflected this in personnel decisions.
In 1968 he again opened a practice, and in 1971 headed the Korea Joint Law Office. He received the First-class Service Medal in 1963 and the Cheongjo Order of Service Merit in 1968. Because of his colonial-era judgeship he was included in the 2002 list of 708 pro-Japanese collaborators compiled by a group of National Assembly members and in the 2008 list of planned entries for the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators in the judicial section. This draft could not confirm whether he was finally entered in the dictionary, so it states only that he was named on those lists. He lived through both the early judiciary and the era of military government, and both sides of the assessment should be kept in view.
Judgeship in the Colonial Period
After passing the judicial section of the Japanese higher civil service examination in 1925, he began as a judge at Haeju in 1927, served in courts in Pyongyang and Daegu, became presiding judge at Daegu in 1939 and opened a law practice in 1943.
Minister of Justice and Lawyer
He was the 5th Minister of Justice from May 1951 to March 1952, then practiced law and served as the first president of the Seoul First Bar Association in 1960.
Tenure as Chief Justice
He served as 3rd and 4th Chief Justice from July 1961 to October 1968. One account says he reviewed lower-court records himself and used them in judicial personnel decisions, but assessments of his major rulings could not be confirmed here.
Controversy over Collaboration
Korean Wikipedia records that he was named on the 2002 list of 708 collaborators and on the 2008 list of planned entries (judicial section) for the dictionary. Please check the dictionary's database for whether he was finally entered.
Grave
Information on his grave could not be confirmed.