Court chiefs from across the nation held an emergency meeting on the 25th and raised objections from the judiciary against the Democratic Party of Korea's plan to force through three judicial reform bills in the National Assembly, including the establishment of a judicial distortion crime, introduction of a constitutional appeal system against court rulings, and expansion of Supreme Court justices. After more than four hours of deliberation, the court chiefs expressed concern that "fundamental restructuring of the judicial system could cause serious, irreversible side effects." They argued that "it is necessary to conduct broad and in-depth discussions on desirable judicial system reforms through a consultative body encompassing various institutions and experts."
This marks the third time court chiefs nationwide have convened regarding the three judicial reform bills. This is likely due to significant concerns over constitutional controversies and potential harm to citizens. In particular, the judicial distortion crime bill submitted to the National Assembly plenary session that day has been criticized for vague requirements such as "distortion of legal principles." Even Cho Kuk, leader of the pro-government Rebuilding Korea Party, pointed this out on the same day. Previously, the progressive civic group People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy expressed concerns that the judicial distortion crime bill could be subject to abuse due to unclear provisions.
The Democratic Party only partially revised provisions related to the judicial distortion crime just before submitting it to the plenary session that day. They announced that they minimized unconstitutionality concerns by limiting the judicial distortion crime to criminal cases and adding clarity to these requirements. However, the Democratic Party's change in position that day was a hasty, reluctant revision made only at the last minute before the plenary session after maintaining the original bill for about two months following its passage through the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The bill goes to a vote in the plenary session on the 26th. The ruling party is being criticized for undermining judicial stability by making constant changes on an important matter that could shake the criminal law system.
Following the submission of the judicial distortion crime bill, the Democratic Party plans to process both the constitutional appeal system against court rulings and the Supreme Court justice expansion bill during the plenary session running until March 3rd. However, the constitutional appeal system raises concerns about creating a litigation nightmare. The Supreme Court justice expansion bill (from 14 to 26) raises concerns about Supreme Court bias toward President Lee Jae-myung, who would appoint 12 new justices. Even considering the ruling party's legislative intent to fix problems revealed during some investigation and trial processes in the legal community, the unilateral legislative push is excessive. The Democratic Party should now listen to opinions from the legal community and civic groups and seek compromise through deliberation with the opposition party.