Supreme Court Refers Case to En Banc Panel Immediately After Assignment to Smaller Panel on the Morning of the 22nd
Noh Taeak, Serving as National Election Commission Chairperson, Recused
Chief Justice Cho Heedae Decides to Refer Case to En Banc Session
The final decision on the Public Official Election Act case involving former Democratic Party leader Lee Jaemyung will be made by the Supreme Court en banc. Supreme Court Justice Noh Taeak, who also serves as the chairperson of the National Election Commission, has filed a request to recuse himself from the case.
On April 22, the Supreme Court referred the appeal trial of former leader Lee, who was indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act, to the en banc panel. The en banc session is convened for cases with significant social impact or when consensus cannot be reached in a smaller panel of four justices. In such cases, the Chief Justice presides, and all justices participate in the deliberation. On this day, the Supreme Court en banc also held its first deliberation session on the appeal trial for Lee's alleged violation of the Public Official Election Act, starting in the afternoon.
Earlier that morning, the Supreme Court initially assigned the case to the Second Division, composed of Justices Oh Kyungmi, Kwon Youngjun, Eom Sangpil, and Park Youngjae, with Justice Park Youngjae serving as the presiding justice. However, immediately after the assignment, the Supreme Court announced that the case would be referred to the en banc panel. With the appeal trial now before the en banc, Justice Noh Taeak, chairperson of the National Election Commission, filed a recusal request for this case. This is due to concerns over potential conflicts of interest if the chairperson, who oversees election management, were to deliberate on an election law case.
In this case, it is reported that Chief Justice Cho Heedae decided, after consulting with the justices, that it was necessary to deliberate at an en banc session and designated the case for en banc review. According to internal regulations on en banc procedures, the Chief Justice, after hearing the opinions of the justices, must designate cases for deliberation at an en banc session. This designation must be made at least ten days before the scheduled session.
However, if necessary for expedited proceedings, the case can be designated immediately. A justice may also request the Chief Justice to designate an en banc session for cases requiring such review. If consensus cannot be reached in the smaller panel, if there is a need to change the interpretation or application of existing Supreme Court precedents, or if it is deemed inappropriate for the smaller panel to handle the case, the case is referred from the four-justice panel to the en banc session.
Former leader Lee was indicted in September 2022 on charges that his statements during the Democratic Party's 2021 presidential primary?claiming not to know the late Kim Moonki, former head of development at Seongnam Development Corporation, and his remarks regarding Baekhyeon-dong?constituted false information. On November 1 last year, Lee was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year suspended sentence in the first trial, which would have resulted in the loss of his parliamentary seat. However, on March 26 of this year, he was acquitted in the second trial.
In response, the prosecution immediately filed an appeal on the day of the verdict, stating, "The appellate court's judgment is extremely out of touch with the general perception of voters regarding the defendant's statements, does not align with common sense and experience, and constitutes a misinterpretation of the legal principles concerning the offense of disseminating false information under the Public Official Election Act."
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