Minimizing Trial Delays Caused by Panel Changes
Impact on Lee Jaemyung's Criminal Trial
A revised Criminal Procedure Rule has been implemented to prevent delays in trials caused by new trial panels having to play back audio recordings of previous hearings when the presiding judges are changed.
On the 28th, the Supreme Court announced through the electronic official gazette the promulgation of the "Partial Amendment to the Criminal Procedure Rules" with this purpose. The amended rules take immediate effect and apply to ongoing criminal cases currently pending in courts. This measure was taken in response to criticism that the renewal of criminal trials due to changes in the trial panel was taking excessively long.
Article 144 of the amended Criminal Procedure Rules includes a proviso in the 'Renewal Procedure of Trial Proceedings' that allows for a simplified investigation method such as reviewing transcripts or notifying both parties without listening to the entire audio recording.
Additionally, if a party objects to discrepancies between the transcript and the audio recording, or if the court deems it necessary, the audio recording can be played to verify errors or consistency.
The amended Rule 132 newly includes provisions stating that "prosecutors, defendants, or defense attorneys must selectively apply for evidence related to the facts they intend to prove and necessary for proving those facts," and that "the court may dismiss evidence applications that violate this or cause undue delay in the trial."
Previously, when the trial panel changed, the trial could continue in a simplified manner by explaining the gist with the consent of both the prosecution and the defendant, but if one party did not agree, the entire recording of the previous hearing had to be listened to. As a result, in important trials, the renewal procedure often took several months.
With the implementation of the amended rules, there is a possibility that trial procedures will also be affected following the participation of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, in his criminal trial, and Ma Eun-hyuk, nominee for Constitutional Court Justice, in the impeachment trial of President Yoon Seok-yeol. In Lee’s case, the judge belonging to the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 33, which handles the Daejang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong, and Wirye New Town development corruption cases and the Seongnam FC case, was recently replaced due to personnel changes. The judge in charge of the North Korea remittance charge case at the Suwon District Court Criminal Division 11 was also changed.
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