고재호 高在鎬
Jurist who served as Supreme Court Justice and president of the Korean Bar Association; pen name Chwibong
| Life | 1913 ~ 1991 |
| Era | 일제강점기~대한민국 |
| Clan | 장흥 고씨 |
Life & career
Ko Jae-ho (1913-1991) was a jurist active in the colonial period and in the Republic of Korea, of the Jangheung Ko clan, with the pen name Chwibong. Born in Damyang, South Jeolla, in 1913, he graduated from the law department of Keijo Imperial University in 1937 and in 1939 passed both the Joseon bar examination and the higher civil service judicial examination, becoming a judge. His younger brother Ko Jae-cheong chaired the human rights committee of the New Democratic Party.
Starting as a judge of the Daegu District Court in 1941, he served mostly in Daegu, as chief of the Daegu District Court and Daegu High Court, and was a Supreme Court Justice from 1954 to 1960 in the First Republic. He sat on the code compilation committee and higher civil service exam committee and in 1960 chaired the National Election Commission.
He opened a law office in Seoul in 1961, became president of the Seoul Bar Association in 1965, and was elected president of the Korean Bar Association in 1965 and 1973. He left the memoir Beopjo Bannyeon (1985) and received the Order of Civil Merit, Mugunghwa, in 1983. He is regarded as an elder who laid a foundation for judicial independence by opposing government interference and issuing a dissent against the Korea-Japan agreement, while Wikipedia also notes that he was included in the 2008 list of those slated for the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators under the legal profession.
Assessment and Controversy
Wikipedia says that as a Justice he opposed government interference and issued a dissent against the Korea-Japan agreement. The same entry records that he was included under the legal profession in the 2008 list of those slated for the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators released by the Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities, so views of him differ. This page could not confirm final inclusion and therefore adds no classification tag.
Grave
His tomb could not be confirmed.
Descendants
His nephew Ko Jung-seok served as a Constitutional Court Justice.