“Possibility of Serious Situation with Invalid Trial”
The plan for a ‘Special Court for Rebellion’ promoted by the Democratic Party of Korea is sparking widespread controversy. The Court Administration Office has expressed concerns, stating that it could undermine the independence of the judiciary. Legal organizations and other groups have also taken joint action to oppose the initiative.
Cheon Dae-yeop, the head of the Court Administration Office, attended the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts meeting on the 1st and expressed opposition, citing “a possibility of infringing on judicial independence.” He criticized the Democratic Party’s proposal, which involves external bodies such as the National Assembly recommending judges to a special court for appointment by the Chief Justice, as potentially undermining “the independence of the judiciary, and the objectivity and fairness of trials.”
Cheon warned that if a special court for rebellion conducts trials, “the defendants are likely to argue that it is an ‘unconstitutional measure,’ and should the Constitutional Court rule it unconstitutional, it could lead to a serious situation where historic trials are invalidated.”
He distinguished the special court for rebellion from past special courts for punishing anti-national acts or those involved in electoral fraud, stating that the latter were “based on the constitution of that time.”
The lawyer group “People Making Good Laws” issued a statement on the 2nd, strongly condemning the attempt to establish a special court for rebellion as a denial of the fundamentals of democracy.
Regarding the Democratic Party’s drive to establish a special court for rebellion, even the legal team of former President Yoon Seok-yeol is considering filing a constitutional appeal.
Yoon’s legal team told The Herald Economics on the 2nd, “Establishing a special court tasked solely with ‘rebellion’ cases directly contradicts the cardinal principle under Article 103 of the Constitution, which states that ‘judges rule independently according to their conscience as directed by the Constitution and the law,'” and confirmed that they are discussing filing a constitutional appeal. – Reporter Kim Ah-rin