Jung Chungrae: "Closed Operations Undermine Independence"
Plans to Disperse Authority Over Trials, Personnel, and Budgets
On November 3, the Democratic Party of Korea launched the "Task Force for Overcoming Judicial Distrust and Normalizing Judicial Administration." The party announced plans to redesign the judicial system to restore public trust in the judiciary and normalize judicial administration. To this end, the Democratic Party will reconsider the establishment of a Judicial Administration Committee as an alternative to the current Court Administration Office.
The party held a launch ceremony for the Task Force for Overcoming Judicial Distrust and Normalizing Judicial Administration at the National Assembly on the same day. Democratic Party leader Jung Chungrae stated, "The judiciary has turned a blind eye to public trust while operating outside the scrutiny of the people," adding, "The solution to these problems lies in structural reform." Jung further explained, "The current Court Administration Office system, under the absolute power of the Chief Justice, has operated in a closed and hierarchical manner, undermining the independent judgment of judges and increasing the possibility of external influence on trials." He also said, "We will thoroughly reconsider the proposal to establish a Judicial Administration Committee, as previously raised by former Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Tanhee."
Jung emphasized, "Judicial independence is not achieved simply because the Chief Justice proclaims it; true independence comes only when the people have absolute trust in the judiciary." He continued, "To restore trust in the judiciary and normalize judicial administration, we will prepare a concrete institutional reform roadmap," and stressed, "We must redesign the judicial system in accordance with the constitutional principles of popular sovereignty and checks and balances."
Jeon Hyunhee, the Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party who leads the task force, stated, "Legal community corruption, such as preferential treatment for former judges and prosecutors, which undermines trust in the judiciary, must be eradicated." She continued, "An internal system to eliminate legal corruption must be established." Jeon also said, "It is urgent to introduce democratic control procedures that disperse the concentration of all powers-judicial authority, personnel, budget, and administration-currently held by the Chief Justice in an imperial manner." She added, "This time, we must improve the system so that the Chief Justice can focus on the essential work of presiding over the Supreme Court." She further stated, "We must reform the imperial Chief Justice system, which currently holds authority over judicial administration, the budget, and the appointment of 3,584 judges, to ensure that trials are conducted in accordance with the law and conscience." She concluded, "The task force will consider all possible options for normalizing judicial administration and will proceed through sufficient deliberation and public discussion."
Meanwhile, regarding the so-called "trial suspension bill," the Democratic Party appears to be taking a cautious approach for now. Park Soo-hyun, the party's chief spokesperson, who had previously referred to the trial suspension bill as the "National Stability Act" the day before, explained to reporters after the Supreme Council meeting, "President Lee Jaemyung said last June that it would be better not to proceed with the trial suspension bill, so it was halted." He added, "Now that the People Power Party has suddenly called for the resumption of trials, it is the party's primary duty to clearly explain that this is not the case." Regarding the possibility of the bill being handled in a plenary session, Park said, "While we did mention the possibility, we also used general wording," and added, "This should be seen as the party's entirely reasonable and defensive response to the People Power Party's distortion of the facts."
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