Court Presidents' Conference: "Serious Regret Over Judicial Reform Pushed Without Deliberation"

On the 25th, chief judges from courts nationwide expressed "serious regret over the current situation in which (the bills) have been placed on the agenda of the plenary session without public discussion or sufficient deliberation, despite the judiciary expressing its concerns," referring to the Democratic Party of Korea’s push to legislate the so-called "Three Judicial Reform Bills" (the Crime of Distorting the Law, the Constitutional Complaint Against Court Judgments, and the Increase in the Number of Supreme Court Justices).

Park Youngjae, Director of the Court Administration (Supreme Court Justice), and the presidents of courts at all levels across the country held an extraordinary session of the National Conference of Court Presidents in the main conference room of the Supreme Court building in Seocho-dong that afternoon and issued this official statement. The extraordinary meeting ran from 2:00 p.m. to 6:40 p.m. A total of 43 people attended, including Director Park.

Park Youngjae, Director of the Court Administration, is speaking at the National Meeting of Court Presidents held at the Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 25th. Yonhap News

The court presidents first stated, "Although the judiciary can only exist through the trust of the people, we gravely acknowledge that we have come to the current situation because we have failed to earn sufficient public trust," and added, "We are deeply aware that we must make greater efforts to create a judicial system for the people and to realize fair and swift trials."

They went on to say, "Nevertheless, we express serious regret over the current situation in which bills that can bring about fundamental changes to the judicial system and have a profound impact on people’s lives have been placed on the agenda of the National Assembly’s plenary session without sufficient public discussion and without deliberation on the side effects of institutional reform, despite expressions of concern from the judiciary and various sectors of society."

At the same time, they voiced deep concern over the bills on the Crime of Distorting the Law, the Constitutional Complaint Against Court Judgments, and the Increase in the Number of Supreme Court Justices. Regarding the bill on the Crime of Distorting the Law, the court presidents stated, "Even taking the revised draft into account, the elements of the offense are abstract, which could lead to an excessively broad scope of punishment and cause serious side effects, such as a flood of complaints and accusations due to the penal provisions," and added, "There is concern that this could result in outcomes that run counter to the promptness of trials and the protection of the people’s fundamental rights."

On the system of allowing constitutional complaints against court judgments, they said, "There are concerns about harm to the public due to the substantial delay in the finality of judgments; litigation parties would suffer from repeated trials, and social losses are expected due to legal instability."

Regarding the increase in the number of Supreme Court justices, while expressing concern about possible side effects such as the weakening of fact-finding in lower courts, they stated that it would be desirable, under the current circumstances, to pursue an increase of four justices as a feasible step, and then to continuously discuss any further increase after examining whether it affects fact-finding or causes any harm to the public.

The court presidents stressed, "A fundamental overhaul of the judicial system can cause serious side effects that are difficult to reverse," and added, "It is necessary to conduct broad and in-depth discussions on desirable plans for judicial system reform through a consultative body that encompasses various institutions and experts."