'Judicial Manipulation' Former Deputy Chief of the Court Administration Office Im Jong-heon First Trial Sentencing Today

The first trial result of former Deputy Chief of the Court Administration Office Lim Jong-heon, who was indicted on the so-called ‘judicial farm’ charges, will be announced on the 5th. It has been 5 years and 3 months since the indictment. Attention is focused on whether former Deputy Chief Lim can also be acquitted of the charges, following former Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae, who was acquitted of all charges in the first trial last month.

Im Jong-heon, former Deputy Director of the Judicial Administration Office. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

The Criminal Division 36-1 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judges Kim Hyun-soon, Cho Seung-woo, Bang Yoon-seop) will hold the sentencing hearing for former Deputy Chief Lim, who was indicted on charges including abuse of authority, at 2 p.m. that day. Among the 14 defendants related to the judicial farm case, Lim is the only one whose first trial verdict has not yet been announced.

Former Deputy Chief Lim was indicted in November 2018 on charges including intervening in frontline trials such as lawsuits for damages by forced labor victims while serving as Director of Planning and Coordination and Deputy Chief at the Court Administration Office during former Chief Justice Yang’s tenure, and unjustly suppressing academic groups within the court such as the International Human Rights Law Research Association.

In the sentencing hearing held last November, the prosecution demanded a 7-year prison sentence for former Deputy Chief Lim. At that time, the prosecution stated, “Former Deputy Chief Lim has been identified as a key person responsible for the abuse of judicial administrative power in multiple investigations,” and “During the investigation and trial of this case, former Deputy Chief Lim was deeply involved in planning and executing most of the criminal acts.”

Earlier, former Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae, who was indicted on judicial farm charges, was acquitted of all 47 charges at the first trial sentencing hearing on the 26th of last month. The court ruled on his abuse of authority charge, stating, “The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court does not have the authority to intervene in trials, and even if it is assumed that he exercised such authority, it cannot be considered an abuse.” The implication is that without authority, there can be no abuse.

However, the legal community believes that in the case of former Deputy Chief Lim, unlike former Chief Justice Yang, some allegations may be recognized as abuse of authority. This is because the court that handled former Chief Justice Yang’s case issued a judgment suggesting that some allegations against former Deputy Chief Lim could be recognized as abuse of authority. Regarding the ‘case of former National Assembly member Seo Ki-ho’s non-renewal during his time as a judge,’ the court ruled, “The instruction and request to proceed with the hearing date of Seo Ki-ho’s case were beyond Lim Jong-heon’s official authority and lacked necessity and reasonableness, constituting abuse of authority.”

Additionally, the court judged that former Deputy Chief Lim’s order to administrative officers to prepare reports containing plans to dismantle the International Human Rights Law Research Association and the ‘Human Rights and Judicial System Small Group (Insamo)’ was an illegal order infringing on judges’ freedom of expression and research, constituting abuse of authority. The court stated, “Lim Jong-heon’s instruction to prepare reports such as the ‘Review of Response Measures Related to Insamo’ was an illegal order infringing on judges’ freedom of expression and research, and thus constitutes abuse of authority.”