DPK Reaches Tentative Agreement on Special Insurrection Court Bill: Appellate-Level Introduction and Internal Judicial Recommendations

A Compromise to Address Constitutional Concerns
Bill to Be Finalized and Passed This Month Following Party Approval

The Democratic Party of Korea has reached a tentative conclusion to remove the terms "12·3 Martial Law" and "Yoon Suk Yeol" from the bill establishing special courts for insurrection cases. Instead, the bill will stipulate that, starting from the appellate trial, multiple special courts for insurrection, recommended by a committee composed of judges, will be responsible for trials and warrant reviews. The party explained that this compromise is intended to eliminate as much of the previously raised constitutional concerns as possible.

Park Soo-hyun, the party's chief spokesperson, met with reporters after the members' meeting at the National Assembly on this day and said, "It has been decided to generalize the bill's title by removing specific incident names and renaming it as the 'Special Act on Special Courts for Insurrection and Treason.'"

The original official name of the bill was the "Special Act on the Establishment of Special Courts and Protection of Whistleblowers for the 12·3 Yoon Suk Yeol Martial Law, etc."

The exclusion of references to specific past incidents and individuals from the title is intended to avoid criticism that the law is a discriminatory, case-specific statute and to address concerns that it could violate the constitutional principle prohibiting retroactive legislation. The intention is to generalize the bill's title to prevent such issues.

Considering that the first trial for an insurrection case is currently underway, the assignment of cases to the special courts for insurrection will begin from the appellate trial.

Among those with the authority to recommend members for the special court candidate recommendation committee, the Minister of Justice and the Secretary General of the Constitutional Court will be excluded. This is to prevent concerns about undermining judicial independence, so the committee will be formed internally within the judiciary. Additional provisions have been included, such as appointments being made by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after deliberation by the Supreme Court Justices' Council.

Jeong Cheongrae, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is moving after the members' meeting held at the National Assembly on the 16th. 2025.12.16 Photo by Kim Hyunmin

Kim Hyunjung, the party's floor spokesperson, added, "The specifics of how internal members will be selected have not been finalized; only the direction has been set. The judges' council and the meeting of judges are just examples-the accurate expression is that 'members will be selected from within the judiciary.'"

The bill also stipulates that multiple special courts will be established, with at least one dedicated to warrants, and that the warrant-specialized court will not handle main trials.

Regarding the provision to double the detention period for defendants charged with insurrection or treason to one year-twice the six-month period stipulated by the Criminal Procedure Act-and to restrict pardons and restoration of rights, Chief Spokesperson Park stated, "It is not appropriate to comment on this today, and we will report on it at the time of the final draft."

It is known that, since restricting pardons and restoration of rights for those convicted of insurrection or treason in the special law could limit the presidential pardon authority granted by the Constitution, the option of amending the Pardon Act was also discussed at the members' meeting.

The Democratic Party plans to submit the bill to the plenary session after obtaining party consensus on the decisions made at the members' meeting. Floor spokesperson Kim stated, "The consensus procedure will be held at a members' meeting on either the 21st or 22nd, before the plenary session."

The bill is expected to be processed between December 22 and 24. Chief Spokesperson Park said, "It is certain that the bill will be handled during the second filibuster period (22nd to 24th)."