Concerns are mounting that South Korea's criminal and judicial system could collapse as the Democratic Party of Korea's so-called "three judicial reform bills" enter the final countdown for a National Assembly vote.
Critics warn that implementing these bills—which include establishing a "law distortion" crime and introducing constitutional appeals against court rulings—could shake the foundations of a legal framework that has operated for 78 years.
According to political sources on the 26th, the National Assembly will vote on the law distortion bill, an amendment to the Criminal Act. The bill stipulates that judges and prosecutors who distort the law in cases under trial or investigation—with intent to illegally or unjustly benefit others or harm their rights—face up to 10 years in prison and up to 10 years of professional license suspension.
The bill previously passed the Legislation and Judiciary Committee under Democratic Party leadership. However, after concerns arose over its constitutionality, the party submitted a revised version the day before. The revision limits the crime's scope to criminal cases, excluding civil and administrative matters, while adding more specific language to address ambiguity.
As the Democratic Party moves to sequentially process the law distortion bill, followed by the Constitutional Court Act amendment introducing appeals against rulings and the bill to increase Supreme Court justices, legal professionals inside and outside the judiciary express growing worry about potential systemic disruption.
Critics argue that pushing through sweeping changes to the national legal system without thorough deliberation could instead collapse the established framework. They note that mechanisms including appeals, prosecution review committees, and the three-tier trial system already operate stably to correct improper investigations and rulings, urging careful handling through public discussion rather than hasty floor votes.
A former judge now practicing as an attorney criticized the approach: "Simply increasing the number of Supreme Court justices is like printing more money despite knowing inflation risks just because currency seems scarce. They're completely ignoring future side effects such as deterioration of fact-finding trials."
The attorney added: "The law distortion crime is a shackle preventing prosecutors and judges from conducting investigations and issuing rulings based on their convictions. Introducing constitutional appeals against court rulings is literally torture by hope—it could perpetuate a vicious cycle of trial delays, soaring attorney fees, and exploding burdens on victims."
The attorney warned that the three judicial reform bills could generate various adverse effects while passing the damage entirely onto citizens.
A legal community official, speaking on condition of anonymity, emphasized: "There are no clear standards for applying the law distortion crime the Democratic Party is pursuing. When applying this crime, an 'invisible hand' could intervene, causing investigative agencies to make arbitrary prosecutions based on subjective interpretation and courts to make erroneous judgments—greatly undermining political neutrality and independence."
The official continued: "Germany's law distortion provision was implemented to correct cases where laws were intentionally distorted for punishment during the Nazi era. Today, it has become virtually obsolete, with almost no cases of punishment under the provision."
The official warned: "This could damage the very foundations of democracy and rule of law that humanity has built—including the separation of powers and judicial independence designed to check absolute authority."