Yoon Seok-yeol's 'Job Exclusion Lawsuit' Assigned to Administrative Division 4 of Seoul Administrative Court (Comprehensive)

Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl (right) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The panel assigned to hear the administrative lawsuit filed by Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol against Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae was decided on the 27th. Both the provisional injunction request, known as the 'suspension of execution request,' and the main lawsuit, the 'request for cancellation of the suspension of duty execution order,' were assigned to the same panel.

The Seoul Administrative Court decided through a random computerized assignment on the morning of the same day that the case filed by Prosecutor General Yoon would be handled by the Administrative Division 4 (Presiding Judge Jo Mi-yeon). If only the suspension of execution request had been filed, the case would have been automatically assigned to the court's senior presiding judge panel, but since Prosecutor General Yoon filed the main lawsuit the previous afternoon, the computerized assignment proceeded as usual, according to the court. The assigned panel will set a hearing date within a few days to review the suspension of execution request and will summon the Ministry of Justice and Prosecutor General Yoon’s side to submit necessary documents. However, the hearing date for the suspension of execution has not yet been set. A decision is expected within about a week at the earliest.

Presiding Judge Jo Mi-yeon of the assigned panel is originally from Gwangju and was appointed as a judge in 1998. She has served as a judge at the Gwangju District Court, Suwon District Court, and as a presiding judge at the Cheongju District Court. She has been working at the Seoul Administrative Court since February 2018. Judge Jo is not a member of the 'Uri Beop Yeonguhoe' (Our Law Research Association), a progressive-leaning judges’ group that has become mainstream in the judiciary under the current administration. Inside and outside the court, there are remarks such as, "Whoever is assigned besides Judge Jo, the judges at the Administrative Court will hear the case without being swayed by partisan logic."

The Administrative Division 4 is one of the panels that recently reviewed suspension of execution cases filed by conservative groups opposing assembly bans. Previously, on the 17th of last month, the Free Solidarity applied to hold a rally of about 300 people near Gyeongbokgung Station but was banned. They filed a suspension of execution request against the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The Administrative Division 4, which reviewed the case, dismissed the Free Solidarity’s request considering the necessity of preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), thereby upholding the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s ban on the rally.

Earlier, on the afternoon of the 25th, Prosecutor General Yoon filed a suspension of execution request to halt the effect of his suspension from duty, and the next day, he filed a lawsuit seeking cancellation of the suspension of duty execution order. In the lawsuit, Prosecutor General Yoon argued that the six reasons Minister Chu cited as grounds for the suspension order were factually incorrect and that the procedure was illegal as he was not given sufficient opportunity to present evidence.