Supreme Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. News 1
Chief Judge Kang Gyu-tae, who suddenly resigned without sentencing Lee Jae-myeong, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, after dragging out the first trial for election law violations for 16 months, posted an explanation in a group chat room of his college classmates. He said, “I am not a Sato during the Joseon Dynasty, and what should I do in a case where there are more than 50 witnesses?” It is not that the trial was intentionally delayed, but that it took time because there were many witnesses. If there are many witnesses, the number of trials can be increased. However, he scheduled a trial date ‘once every two weeks.’ We can only assume that he had no intention of sentencing himself from the beginning. This kind of person held an important position as the chief judge of the criminal settlement of the Seoul Central District Court.
Chief Judge Kang is not the only one. Currently, there are many cases in criminal trials that cannot be called trials. The trial of Lee Hwa-young, former vice-governor of Gyeonggi Province, who was indicted in the ‘Ssangbangwool illegal remittance to North Korea’ case, has been ongoing for 15 months. It took several months to dismiss Lee Hwa-young’s application to recuse herself from the bench, but the resumed trial ended in 50 minutes. It is said that Mr. Lee’s side could not decide whether to cross-examine the witness or not. It’s not a trial, it’s a joke. Nevertheless, the court is dragged along. The presiding judge in this case is also subject to replacement when the judges are reshuffled next month. Mr. Lee aims for this and uses a strategy to delay the trial, but the judge does not make any effort to hurry.
All of the defendants in the espionage case who were arrested and indicted under the current administration were released after the trial was delayed through applications for public participation trials and applications for judicial recusal. It is unknown when the first trial of these trials will end.
Judges’ political bias is also serious. Judge Park Byeong-gon of the Seoul Central District Court sentenced People Power Party lawmaker Jeong Jin-seok, who was indicted on charges of defaming former President Roh Moo-hyun and his wife, to six months in prison in August last year. It was an extreme ruling that went beyond common sense in the legal profession. It turned out that Judge Park was a person who posted political prejudices on the Internet several times. Nevertheless, the court only issued a ‘severe caution’ and allowed Judge Park to continue the ruling. People who use rulings as political weapons are still on trial.
Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae of the Supreme Court emphasizes speedy and fair trials as the top priority. However, that task cannot be accomplished unless the problems of widespread irresponsibility and political bias among judges are resolved. Competent and sincere judges should be selected, and judges who are not should be disadvantaged. The Court Organization Act states that this must be done, but during the previous Kim Myeong-soo judiciary, this was not followed because of the judges’ concerns. The formal review of judges for reappointment must also be strengthened to eliminate problematic judges. The problem of incompetent, insincere, irresponsible and politically biased judges is going too far.
2024-01-10 18:16:00
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