As the Democratic Party of Korea signaled it will pass three judicial reform bills (judicial distortion crime, judicial petition, and increasing the number of Supreme Court justices) on the 24th, People Power Party members on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee criticized it as an attempt to complete the Lee Jae-myung administration's dictatorship by seizing control of the judiciary.
Na Kyung-won, a People Power Party lawmaker on The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, held a forum on the 20th at the National Assembly with committee and policy committee lawmakers to block what they called the "three evil laws destroying the judiciary." Earlier, on the 11th, Democratic Party of Korea members on the committee convened a full session and pushed through the three judicial reform bills.
Na Kyung-won said, "(The Democratic Party) plans to ram through at a lightning pace in the plenary session the bad laws they rushed through the committee as if stir-frying beans over a lightning fire," adding, "The golden time the Democratic Party talks about is nothing else. It is a declared plan to tame the judiciary to their taste to reorganize it into a judiciary that erases President Lee Jae-myung's crimes."
Lawmaker Cho Bae-sook also said, "The purpose of the bad laws is just one thing: legislation to save the defendant, President Lee Jae-myung," adding, "I felt firsthand how frightening legislative dictatorship can be. In particular, combined with an imperial presidency, they are using that overwhelming power to drive even the judiciary like this."
Jang Young-soo, a Korea University law school professor who delivered the keynote presentation, said, "Reading the series of forced legislative actions as 'judicial destruction' reflects the view that, in a situation where both an imperial presidency and an imperial National Assembly are under control, they are trying to seize the judiciary as well, breaking the separation of powers and attempting dictatorship," adding, "It must be made clear that if the Lee Jae-myung government seizes the judiciary too, it will in effect face no checks."
Ji Sung-woo, a Sungkyunkwan University law school professor, regarding the judicial petition amendment known as the so-called "four-tier appeals system," said, "We must reflect on whether this is truly for the people," adding, "Among the features modeled on the relationship between the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, the only thing not adopted from the 'German Federal Constitutional Court' is the four-tier system. The legal community worried because there is a high possibility the Supreme Court's review itself will become highly politicized."
Cha Jin-a, a Korea University law school professor, said, "Under the banner of prosecutorial reform and court reform, they are trying to steer investigative bodies to hold power permanently," adding, "Passing the judicial distortion crime together is also to cement dictatorship. Those who end up being investigated, indicted, and found guilty under this law are likely to be the weaker side."