Bill Proposes Increasing Number of Supreme Court Justices
New Legislation Introduced to Establish "Judicial Distortion" Crime for Judges and Prosecutors
On May 2, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) introduced a series of bills aimed at suspending ongoing criminal trials if a person is elected president. This move is interpreted as an attempt to halt the five criminal trials currently facing DPK presidential candidate Lee Jaemyung should he win the election.
On the same day, Representative Kim Yongmin submitted a bill to amend the Criminal Procedure Act, stipulating that criminal trial proceedings against a defendant elected as president be suspended for the duration of their term. Representatives Kim Taenyon, Min Hyungbae, and Lee Yongwoo also each introduced similar amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act, calling for the suspension of all trial proceedings if the defendant is the sitting president.
The intention is to clarify that Article 84 of the Constitution?which states that the president cannot be criminally prosecuted while in office except for charges of insurrection or treason?should also apply to ongoing trials. Candidate Lee is currently facing a total of five trials, including charges related to violations of the Public Official Election Act, as well as the Daejang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong, Wirye, and Seongnam FC cases, perjury incitement, illegal remittances to North Korea, and misuse of Gyeonggi Province corporate credit cards.
This legislative push is seen as a response to the Supreme Court's May 1 decision to overturn Lee's acquittal in the second trial regarding the Public Official Election Act and remand the case for a guilty verdict. The DPK plans to refer the Criminal Procedure Act amendments to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the same day, have them reviewed by the subcommittee, and then bring them to a plenary session for a vote next week.
Bills to amend the Court Organization Act, which would increase the number of Supreme Court justices or restructure the Supreme Court, have also been proposed. Representative Kim Yongmin submitted an amendment to the Court Organization Act to increase the number of Supreme Court justices from 14 to 30.
Representative Min Hyungbae introduced a bill requiring that at least one-third of Supreme Court justices be individuals who are neither judges nor prosecutors, increasing the number of Supreme Court Justice Recommendation Committee members from 10 to 15, and mandating that at least four of them be women. He also introduced an amendment to the Criminal Act to establish a new crime of "judicial distortion," allowing for the punishment of judges or prosecutors who maliciously distort the law.
A revision to the Constitutional Court Act is also being pursued to allow court rulings to be subject to constitutional complaints, effectively enabling a four-tiered court system. Representative Jung Jinwook is preparing an amendment to delete the phrase "excluding court judgments" from Article 68, Paragraph 1 of the Constitutional Court Act (which currently states that anyone whose constitutional rights have been violated by an act or omission of public authority may file a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court, except for court judgments).
In addition, a bill to completely abolish the crime of disseminating false information under the Public Official Election Act has been introduced in the National Assembly. Representative Park Heeseung submitted an amendment in November of last year to delete provisions related to the crimes of disseminating false information and defamation of candidates from the election law.
If this amendment passes, candidate Lee, who received a remand verdict for a guilty ruling on charges of disseminating false information, could receive a dismissal of charges due to the abolition of the relevant legal provision.
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