The Democratic Party of Korea on the 25th unveiled a draft of judicial administration reform centered on abolishing the National Court Administration, banning retired Supreme Court justices from taking cases handled by the Supreme Court for five years, and strengthening disciplinary measures for judges. But there is no shortage of opposing views.
Lee Ji-young, director-general for judicial support at the National Court Administration (high court judge), who took part as a panelist at a legislative hearing led by the Democratic Party task force on normalizing the judiciary, hit back, saying, "It is hard to agree with the view that the National Court Administration should be abolished without sufficient consideration of the judiciary's efforts and outcomes over the eight years since the judicial administration power abuse scandal."
The Democratic Party task force on normalizing the judiciary held a legislative hearing at the National Assembly that day and made public the task force's draft for judicial administration reform. First, the task force proposed abolishing the National Court Administration and creating a Judicial Administration Committee. The Judicial Administration Committee would consist of 13 members, including one minister-level Chairperson and two standing Commissioners. There are two options: in the first, the Chief Justice appoints the Chairperson upon recommendation by an outside member of the judiciary; in the second, the Chief Justice serves as Chairperson.
The Supreme Court justice candidate recommendation committee would be expanded from 10 to 13 members, with more diverse composition. The national conference of judges would be established by law to make the judges' conference substantive.
To root out preferential treatment for former Supreme Court justices, there is also a plan to ban retired Supreme Court justices from taking cases handled by the Supreme Court for five years. A plan also emerged to make currently nominal judicial discipline concrete and substantive. The maximum period for suspension, the most severe disciplinary action, would be raised from one year to two, and the current judicial disciplinary committee of four judges and three outside members would be changed to three judges and four outside members.
Jeon Hyun-hee, the task force Chairperson and a Democratic Party lawmaker, said, "The main content is dispersing the imperial powers concentrated in the Chief Justice and securing the democratic legitimacy of judicial administration," adding, "The goal is to establish an institutional foundation to separate trial work from within the judiciary so that judges can try cases according to their conscience."
But opposition was voiced starting with the legislative hearing that day. Deputy Director General Lee, who took part as a panelist, cited the abolition of the high court chief judge promotion system, greater transparency in personnel standards, regularization of the national conference of judges, and operation of task allocation committees at each court level, and said the judiciary has worked to improve its closed structure and ensure the independence of trials. Lee said, "It is now difficult to find cases where judicial administration is abused to unduly influence trials," adding, "It is hard to agree with the view that the National Court Administration should be abolished without sufficient consideration of the judiciary's efforts and their results."
There was also concern that abolishing the National Court Administration could instead lead to an infringement on judicial independence. Deputy Director General Lee emphasized, "Even if judicial administrative powers are decentralized, courts composed of judges must be able to decide core matters without political or external interference," adding, "Courts have a different reason for existence than the legislature and the executive, which are chosen by majority vote, and must be able, independently and fairly, to perform the role of protecting the human rights of the socially vulnerable guaranteed by the Constitution and laws even if it runs counter to the will of the majority."