A bill to amend the Criminal Procedure Act to expand the disclosure of lower-court written judgments in criminal cases passed the National Assembly on the 12th.
The National Assembly held a plenary session that afternoon and passed the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act. Driven by the Democratic Party of Korea, it passed unanimously among the 160 members present. The People Power Party opposed the bill and did not take part in the vote.
As part of the judicial reform package pushed by the Democratic Party of Korea, the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act includes expanding the scope of disclosure so that written judgments in first- and second-instance criminal cases that are not yet final can also be viewed and copied. It also includes a provision to improve access to the judgment search system by introducing text and numeric string search functions for the judgments subject to disclosure. However, taking into account the preparation period for the courts to build the system, an addendum provides that the law will take effect two years after its promulgation.
The People Power Party opposed the Criminal Procedure Act amendment, which was introduced the day before, by launching a filibuster (a lawful obstruction of proceedings through unlimited debate). But after 24 hours of filibuster, a vote was held to end the unlimited debate, and the ruling party led the move to end it. Afterward, the People Power Party left the chamber in protest of the Criminal Procedure Act amendment, and the vote proceeded under the ruling party's lead and passed.
The People Power Party also launched a filibuster against the Banking Act amendment, which was introduced after the vote on the Criminal Procedure Act amendment. The Banking Act prohibits banks from passing expenses on to consumers when calculating additional interest rates.