More Than Words: Legal Professional Activism and the Prevention of Torture in South Korea

Abstract

Past studies have identified the spread of international human rights norms and waves of democratization as two major forces that facilitate human rights protection. Less well-known is the process of how legal professionals exploit these macro-level opportunities to promote human rights in new democracies. In this study of torture in South Korea, I show that the practice of torture disappeared only through the efforts of lawyers and judges to establish the rule of law. Specifically, I identify three reforms that enhanced accountability of state agencies: judicial independence, lawyers' participation in criminal proceedings and the establishment of the Human Rights Commission.