Prosecution Seeks 7-Year Sentence for Yang Seung-tae in 'Judicial Farming' Case "Intervened in Judges' Trials"

The prosecution has requested a 7-year prison sentence for former Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae, who was indicted on charges of 'judicial manipulation.' This comes approximately 4 years and 7 months after Yang was charged.

Former Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae, who is accused of being directly or indirectly involved in the 'Judicial Farming' case, is holding a press conference in front of the main gate of the Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on January 11, 2019, when he appeared before the prosecution as a suspect. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the 15th, the prosecution demanded a 7-year prison term during the first trial's closing arguments for former Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae and former Supreme Court Justices Park Byeong-dae and Go Young-han, who are accused of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights. The trial was held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 35-1 (Presiding Judge Lee Jong-min, Judges Lim Jeong-taek, Min So-young).

In their sentencing recommendation, the prosecution stated, "At that time, the judiciary was implementing a dual system for judicial personnel appointments, which weakened the influence of the Chief Justice, who holds the appointment authority, and was pushing for the introduction of a high-level appellate court." They added, "They recognized that cooperation from the Blue House was necessary to achieve judicial policy goals," and accordingly concealed judicial misconduct, collected investigation information from the prosecution, and even falsely allocated national budget funds, causing losses to the national treasury. Furthermore, they emphasized, "The defendants had authority through judicial administrative power to support trials and request cooperation via external affairs," and "They abused this authority to interfere in other judges' trials."

Regarding the conspiracy relationship, they said, "Without the defendants' final approval, these crimes would not have been carried out," and "Considering the judiciary's organizational interests, which are not parties to the trial, during the judicial process cannot be justified under any pretext." They added, "Despite this, the independence of the judiciary was destroyed, and specific rulings were demanded, thoroughly disregarding the constitutional value of judicial independence. The parties were deprived of their right to a fair trial."

Earlier, the prosecution indicted former Chief Justice Yang on February 11, 2019, on 47 charges including various trial interventions, creation of a judiciary blacklist, and slush fund formation. The former judiciary leadership, including Yang, is accused of intervening in trials of interest to the government to gain cooperation from the Blue House and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for key projects such as the introduction of the high-level appellate court and overseas dispatch of judges during the Park Geun-hye administration. The prosecution charged Yang and others with unjustly intervening in lawsuits such as compensation claims by victims of forced labor under Japanese colonial rule against Japanese war crime companies, the status confirmation lawsuit of former Unified Progressive Party lawmakers, administrative lawsuits related to the National Teachers' Union's (Jeon Gyo Jo) loss of union status, and the criminal trial of former National Intelligence Service Director Won Sei-hoon’s comment manipulation case.

Typically, the sentencing hearing is held about one month after the closing arguments, but due to the extensive nature of this case, which has seen 277 hearings to date, the sentencing is expected to take place around the end of this year or early next year, 2 to 3 months later. Since Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo’s term ends on the 24th, the first trial sentencing will occur during the term of the next Chief Justice.

Meanwhile, among the 14 current and former judges indicted on charges related to judicial manipulation, only two have been found guilty so far: former Planning and Coordination Officer Lee Min-geol of the Judicial Administration Office and former Standing Member Lee Gyu-jin of the Supreme Court Sentencing Committee. In the appellate trial, Lee Min-geol was fined 15 million won, and Lee Gyu-jin was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year probation. Conversely, former Seoul High Court Chief Judge Shim Sang-cheol and Presiding Judge Bang Chang-hyun, who were tried together, were acquitted in both the first and second trials. They are currently awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision. The trial of former Deputy Chief of the Judicial Administration Office Lim Jong-heon is still ongoing in the first trial. Former Senior Judicial Researcher Yoo Hae-yong, former Seoul Western District Court Chief Judge Lee Tae-jong, former Presiding Judges Lim Seong-geun, Shin Gwang-ryeol, Seong Chang-ho, and Presiding Judge Jo Ui-yeon have been acquitted with finality.