The appellate court panel for the appeal trial of former Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae, who was indicted on allegations of so-called 'judicial farming' but was acquitted of all charges in the first trial, has been confirmed.
According to the legal community on the 22nd, the Seoul High Court assigned the case involving former Chief Justice Yang and former Justices Park Byeong-dae and Go Young-han on charges including abuse of authority and obstruction of rights to the Criminal Division 14-1 (Presiding Judge Park Hye-seon, Judges Oh Young-sang, Lim Jong-hyo) yesterday.
The appeal trial for former Deputy Chief of the Supreme Court Administrative Office Lim Jong-heon, who was partially convicted in the first trial for the same case, was assigned to the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 12-1 (Presiding Judge Hong Ji-young, Judges Bang Woong-hwan, Kim Hyung-bae).
Both panels are effectively equal appellate courts composed solely of high court judges. Unlike a collegiate panel consisting of one presiding judge and two associate judges or a mixed equal panel composed of one high court presiding judge and two high court judges, these panels consist of three high court judges who deliberate and decide on an equal footing.
Former Chief Justice Yang was arrested and indicted in February 2019 on charges of receiving reports or approving, or directly ordering, unconstitutional plans such as various trial interventions, creation of a blacklist of judges, checks on the Constitutional Court, and slush fund formation during his six-year term after taking office in September 2011, involving former Deputy Chief Lim and former Justices Park and Go. However, on the 26th of last month, the first trial court acquitted all three, including former Chief Justice Yang. The prosecution appealed the decision.
Former Deputy Chief Lim was arrested and indicted on charges including promoting the establishment of a high-level appellate court to strengthen the court's status and interests, suppressing internal and external critics, improper organizational protection, and slush fund formation, and was sentenced to two years in prison with a three-year probation in the first trial on the 5th. Given that former Chief Justice Yang, who was the head of the judiciary, was acquitted, Lim, who was considered the 'third in command,' was effectively identified as the top executor of the judicial farming, sparking controversy. Both former Deputy Chief Lim and the prosecution have appealed.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
