DPK: "Three Judicial Reform Bills to Be Passed as Approved by Judiciary Committee... No Revisions to Distortion of Law Offense"

The Democratic Party of Korea has decided to bring the so-called "three major judicial reform bills" to a plenary session of the National Assembly in their original form as passed by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and to pass them there. It also decided to keep the controversial "distortion of law" offense without any amendments.

Jung Cheongrae, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is greeting attending lawmakers at a closed party meeting at the National Assembly on the 22nd. Yonhap News

On the 22nd, the Democratic Party of Korea held a closed-door caucus at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, and reached a consensus to handle at the plenary session, without changes, the three judicial reform bills passed by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which center on creating the distortion of law offense, introducing a judicial petition system, and increasing the number of Supreme Court justices. Park Suhyeon, senior spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, "We once again gathered the prevailing opinion on the original bill passed by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in the sense of going through sufficient deliberation," adding, "There were no differences of opinion among lawmakers regarding handling it at this plenary session."

Among the three judicial reform bills, the Criminal Act amendment on the distortion of law offense stipulates imprisonment for up to 10 years or suspension of qualifications for up to 10 years in cases where judges and prosecutors intentionally misapply statutes, use concealed or forged evidence in trials or investigations, illegally collect evidence, or recognize criminal facts without evidence. The party also decided to keep, without revision, certain provisions that some have argued may be unconstitutional.

The Constitutional Court Act amendment on the judicial petition system would include court rulings, which had previously been excluded, within the scope of review for constitutional complaints. The Court Organization Act amendment on increasing the number of Supreme Court justices contains a provision to expand the number of Supreme Court justices from the current 14 to 26.

These bills, having passed the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, have already been referred to the plenary session and are highly likely to be introduced and passed at the plenary session expected to be held on the 24th.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Korea also adopted as its official party position the government-drafted bills on establishing the Serious Crimes Investigation Office and the Prosecution Office for Indictments, which were prepared after collecting the party's views. The Democratic Party of Korea proposed revisions to unify the personnel structure of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office and to exclude "major disasters," "crimes by public officials," and "election crimes" from the nine categories of crimes under the government plan that would fall within the office's investigative authority.

However, it is understood that under the new government proposal, the title of the head of the Prosecution Office for Indictments remains "Prosecutor General." The Democratic Party of Korea had argued for the title "Chief of the Prosecution Office for Indictments," but it appears that a compromise was reached as the government insisted on keeping the Prosecutor General title. Senior spokesperson Park explained, "We have adopted the government proposal as the party line, but the details can be technically fine-tuned and adjusted by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the party leadership in the National Assembly," adding, "We adopted it as the party line as a compromise that leaves room to maneuver."