Supreme Court Chief Justice: "The nation is in a life-or-death confrontation... Power granted by the people must not be overstepped or abused"

Jo Hee-dae "Democratic Procedures According to the Constitution and Laws Must Be Respected"

On the 2nd, Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae stated, "The martial law and impeachment crisis have plunged us into an uncontrollable vortex of chaos. The only solution is to respect democratic procedures according to the Constitution and laws and to unite everyone's hearts and efforts."

At the opening ceremony held at the Supreme Court Central Hall in Seocho-gu, Seoul, Chief Justice Cho said, "Conflicts among the people have intensified, and the country is confronting each other as if it were a matter of life and death."

He emphasized, "What we have newly realized amid the recent national turmoil is that all state institutions must properly exercise the power granted by the people, and must not abuse it by overstepping their authority or evade their service and responsibility to the people." He added, "We must continue efforts for the judiciary's fundamental mission of 'swift and fair trials.'"

Chief Justice Cho expressed gratitude to the judiciary members and the public for the resolution of some judicial tasks last year. He mentioned the revision of the Court Organization Act and the passage of the Judges Quota Act for courts at all levels, which allows for an increase of 370 judges over five years. He also noted, "Despite the difficult national finances, the judiciary's budget has been somewhat increased, enabling the expansion of judicial welfare services such as resolving trial delays and improving judicial accessibility for socially vulnerable groups."

As new tasks, he requested active discussions on solutions to trial delays, including ▲improvement of the appraisal system ▲appropriate adjustment of the trial-centered principle ▲proper documentation of judgments ▲activation of mediation. Regarding criminal procedures, he pledged efforts for ▲improvements in compulsory investigation such as the conditional detention warrant system and the introduction of face-to-face hearings before issuing search and seizure warrants ▲increase and better treatment of public defenders ▲activation of citizen participation trials.

Additionally, he emphasized the necessity of ▲civil enforcement system ▲comprehensive research support for the development of the judicial assistant system ▲expansion of specialized courts ▲expansion of family courts ▲stable establishment and operation of family court comprehensive support centers and visitation centers ▲gradual improvement of trial procedures and establishment of judicial support systems for persons with disabilities, foreigners, and the elderly. Internally within the court, he mentioned ▲the phased launch of the next-generation electronic litigation system, future registration system, and criminal electronic litigation system within the first half of the year ▲operation of a legal tech service evaluation team ▲training of internal personnel as IT experts.