Seoul High Court Adds One Criminal Division... Formation of a Bench with 'Three Female Judges'

This year, the Seoul High Court will add one more criminal trial division. This appears to reflect the increasing number of criminal cases filed at the Seoul High Court. On the other hand, one civil trial division has been abolished. Additionally, through this case allocation, Yoon Jun (63, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 16), President of the Seoul High Court, will take on trial duties, and a panel composed of three female judges has been formed.

One Additional Criminal Trial Division... Civil Division 1 Composed of ‘Three Female Judges’

[Image source=Beomryul Newspaper]

As the number of criminal cases filed at the Seoul High Court increases, one criminal trial division has been added in this year's case allocation.

Through this case allocation, the presiding judges of all criminal trial divisions at the Seoul High Court, except for four divisions (including those handling pretrial requests), will be changed.

Appeals for major cases such as former Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong are expected to proceed at the Seoul High Court. However, these two cases, along with the case of former Court Administration Office Deputy Director Lim Jong-heon, which both parties have appealed, have not yet been filed at the Seoul High Court.

[Image source=Beomryul Newspaper]

Through this case allocation, a panel composed of three female judges has been formed at the Seoul High Court. This is Civil Division 1, which mainly handles labor cases, and is composed of High Court Judges Lee Jun-young (49, class 31), Lee Yang-hee (51, class 32), and Lee Eun-hye (48, class 33). Previously, Civil Division 1 had presiding judges such as Supreme Court Justice Kim Sang-hwan (58, class 20) and Supreme Court Justice nominee Eom Sang-pil (56, class 23).

With the establishment of Civil Division 60 in this year's case allocation, the court president will directly engage in trial duties. In particular, Civil Division 60 will hear remanded cases sent back from the Supreme Court to the Seoul High Court.

Panel with the Longest Legal Experience, ‘115 Years of Experience’

At the Seoul High Court, the number of panels composed of three high court chief judges who alternate as presiding judge and lead judge, known as equal-experience panels, has increased to 12 divisions?the highest ever.

Equal-experience panels are composed of three chief judges with over 15 years of legal experience who alternate as presiding judge and lead judge. Among these, the panel with the highest combined legal experience is Civil Division 25, which handles appeal cases. It is composed of Chief Judges Kim Moon-seok (65, class 13), Lee Kyun-yong (62, class 16), and Jung Jong-kwan (61, class 16), whose total legal experience amounts to 115 years. Following last year, Civil Division 29, composed of Chief Judges Cho Young-chul (65, class 15), Hwang Byung-ha (62, class 15), and Bae Jun-hyun (59, class 19), maintains a combined legal experience of 112 years. Chief Judges Jang Seok-jo (63, class 15) and Bae Gwang-guk (63, class 18), who formed Criminal Division 4 last year, have moved to Civil Division 12. Adding Chief Judge Park Hyung-joon’s (55, class 23) legal experience, who has been in this division since 2022, the total legal experience of Civil Division 12 reaches 104 years.

The number of equal-experience panels composed of three high court judges has increased by six compared to last year, totaling 19 divisions (11 civil, 4 criminal, 4 administrative). Compared to last year, some panels composed of one high court chief judge and two high court judges have been reorganized into two panels of three chief judges and five panels of three judges. One new panel composed of three high court judges has been newly established.

Han Su-hyun, Legal Times Reporter

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.