Former Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae Appeals 'Judicial Farming' Scandal Case to Supreme Court

Of 47 Charges, Two Counts of Abuse of Authority for Trial Intervention Recognized

The case of former Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae, who was found guilty of abuse of authority and received a suspended prison sentence in the second trial over the so-called 'judicial farming' scandal, will now be reviewed by the Supreme Court.

Former Chief Justice Yang Sungtae, who was indicted in the so-called 'judicial farming' scandal and acquitted in the first trial, is attending the appellate court sentencing hearing held at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 30th of last month. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the legal community on February 2, Yang's legal team filed an appeal with the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 14-1 (Presiding Judge Park Hyesun) on this day.

On January 30, the court overturned the first trial's not-guilty verdict and sentenced former Chief Justice Yang to six months in prison, suspended for one year, on charges including abuse of authority. This marks the first time in constitutional history that a former Chief Justice has been found guilty in a criminal trial. Yang was indicted in February 2019 on charges of abusing judicial administrative authority through former Supreme Court Justices Park Byungdae and Ko Younghan during his six-year term starting in September 2011.

Ko Younghan, age 70, another former Supreme Court Justice who was indicted alongside Yang, was acquitted as in the first trial. Both former justices served as chief judges of the National Court Administration during the period in question.

After taking office in September 2011, Yang was brought to trial on allegations that, during his six-year term, he received and approved, or directly ordered, unconstitutional schemes reported by then Deputy Chief Im Jongheon and former Chief Judges Park and Ko of the National Court Administration.

Yang faced charges including interference in various trials, compiling a blacklist of judges, attempting to check the Constitutional Court, and creating slush funds.

Previously, prosecutors indicted Yang on 47 counts. In the first trial in 2024, the court subdivided these 47 charges into about 90 specific counts and found him not guilty on all of them.

The appellate court, however, found Yang guilty on two of the charges, unlike the first trial.

Specifically, the court found him guilty of ordering the Seoul Southern District Court in April 2015 to withdraw a request for a constitutional review, and of exerting influence in November 2015 to overturn the first trial verdict in a status confirmation lawsuit filed by former Unified Progressive Party lawmakers at the Seoul High Court. Unlike the first trial, which did not recognize trial intervention as falling under 'official authority' required for abuse of authority, the appellate court ruled that intervening in specific cases and infringing on a judge's authority to adjudicate constitutes abuse of authority.

For the remaining charges, including improper intervention in compensation lawsuits filed by victims of forced labor under Japanese colonial rule, the appellate court upheld the not-guilty verdict from the first trial.

Immediately after the second trial verdict, Yang's legal team stated their intention to appeal, arguing, "The ruling on abuse of authority contradicts established legal principles, and there was no substantive review of some of the facts that were acknowledged."