Justiție Juvenilă (2022)

Interesting for the juvenile crimes approached, tedious for the adults storylines

This legal K-drama provides an interesting take on the justice system in South Korea by focusing on the treatment of juvenile crimes. The format remains quite standard for the genre, each case being handled over the course of 2-3 episodes. Some stories are more captivating than others but overall I found the show pretty compelling when the focus was on the young offenders. However, my interest dropped a lot regarding the storylines involving the adults: the intrigue became a bit tedious to follow when they were concerned because of too much pathos and some plot devices a bit too coincidental.

Regarding the casting, it is overall pretty good. There is no obvious weak part and the main actress does a suitable job. Most of the young actors playing criminal or victim roles are convincing. It is thanks to their skills that some of the cases were so gripping to follow. I would have loved to see the script centred more around them and their psyche than the adults characters who did not show enough growth and evolution and were often unlikable.

The music was good with one particular song fitting really well with the thematic of the show. The filmmaking was dark and well-done with some scenes tough to watch...At the same time, it was for some aspects more consensual with some "moralizing" scenes than I expected given the context of the story. In my opinion, it would have been even better if the screenwriter and the director had take an even darker road. There are grey areas approached but not that much and a bit in a superficial way.

I would recommend this to people that love legal shows and are looking for a new take on the genre with cases not often seen. It is clearly not a binge-able drama because of the difficult topics approached as well as its format and structure. It might be very triggering given its inner nature, so be mindful.

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High Mighty Judge

The drama was interesting to watch. But come on now what judge is going to do what the leading female does in a real-life scenario. She was so vocally about her boss removing himself from his son case, although he did cross the line, but she does the same not willing to remove herself. She had a high and mighty attitude about her, she right and no one else, opinions matter but the female judge. The system is shown how it truly is, it not as equal has people think. The law does always serve justice. The other lead male judge had a good heart, but he is a rare find in the court system. I like how even after she treat her boss the way she did, in the end he still tried to help her. Because she could have gone to him and not just forced her way into seeing him at the hospital.

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Family is the basic unit of society

“They say it takes an entire village to raise a child. In other words, a child’s life could be ruined if the entire village neglects the child.” - Shim Eun Seok.

What a great show! Great story, excellent casts and I think we need this series to show us how every decisions, actions and words, could affect not us but the people around us. That every actions there's a corresponding responsiblity included.

We should always take into consideration the things that we will decide to do. That as an adult, we should always reflect how it would affect younger generation. Also, that family is really important and that when you become a parent, you are responsible in shaping your child on how to become a responsible member of the society.

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Hard topic done well

I found this drama highly realistic and truly informative about a problem most first world countries have - juvenile delinquency, and the inadequacies of the legal system to combat it. I myself retired from DSS which is social services in the US - and I had teens coming in for help with medical (pregnancy too often!) & living help. Kids who came thru the foster system & were flung out on their own at 18. Kids from bad or indifferent parents. Kids who were thrown out of their homes for not conforming to the morals or religions of their parents. Just heartbreaking.
This drama had as the central character a woman that I did not like at all. She had no business being a juvenile judge in the SK system as portrayed, because of her constant 'I hate juvenile offenders' spiel. Nope, nada, not acceptable. However, her journey was imminently worth watching. She overcame her prejudices and gave fair & impartial judgements, trying her best to help these kids on a path away from crime towards being productive citizens, despite their parents and their home situations. I very much enjoyed the way she went after the truth, like a terrier, thru-out.
Now, I do have a huge problem with that first case. A young teen (13???) who is schizophrenic???? WTF???? That psychopathic older teen used and manipulated this vulnerable, MENTALLY ILL child, and he had no business being put in the penal system at all. He needed psychiatric care, pure and simple. However, this really highlights for me the big problem SK seems to have in regards to mental illness - somewhere reform is needed. Lord knows, the US has areas (huge ones) where a ton of reforms are needed, BTW. In fact I'd say it's possible that the SK legal system overall is more efficient than the one here in the US (not a huge achievement). But the way mental illnesses are ignored is just insane.
I did not like the way the chief judge was treated by the main character, BTW. At no point did she ask him when he found out about his son - which makes a big difference. She exhibited a very holier-than-thou attitude thru the entire drama in fact, which made me long for someone to slap her down. Her boss was going to have his career ruined, as he knew when he found out about his son - despite the fact he hadn't a clue the kid & his wife had disobeyed him. That's another problem with SK - the way mere proximity (as in a family member, or someone you know/work with) to a criminal, or to scandal, can wash over one and destroy YOUR career etc! The way the families of criminals, who often have been victims of said criminals themselves, are demonized! This is something shown really well in the drama Come Hug Me.
I really loved the ending case - it showed what her problems were, and wrapped them up well. I could have done without her ridiculous lecture to her superior, which really had no truth in it whatsoever (throwing 11 year olds in the penal system does not 'teach them' anything except how to be better criminals next time). Those kids needed actual counseling and the kinds of consequences that children need - ie education and a sense of responsibility. Their parents failed them woefully, and it's not the job of the justice department, nor the schools, to give kids this. Both those boys looked to be sociopathic from the start, which is not going to somehow 'go away' by throwing them in jail or juvenile detention. Anymore than schizophrenia will somehow disappear using the same method. However, the older judge did slap her down a peg at least, and both seemed to learn something from this experience.

All in all this was a very worthwhile watch. Acting, of course, was top-notch.

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