The Seoul Central District Court decided on the 10th to postpone the first trial of President Lee Jae-myung's Daechang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong, Wirye-dong, and Seongnam FC cases and schedule it later. The Central District Court stated that this is "applying Article 84 of the Constitution." Article 84 of the Constitution stipulates that "the president shall not be liable to criminal prosecution during their term, except in cases of treason or violations of foreign exchange laws."
Earlier, the Seoul High Court also postponed the retrial of President Lee Jae-myung's violation of the Public Official Election Act case on the same grounds on the 9th. A court official noted that "(the postponements of the election law trial and the Daechang-dong trial) interpreted by the court means that criminal trials are not conducted during the president's term, according to Article 84 of the Constitution."
Accordingly, the legal community predicts that there is a significant possibility that the second trial of the perjury case against President Lee Jae-myung, the first trial of the SSANGBANGWOOL illegal remittance case to North Korea, and the first trial of the misuse of corporate credit cards in Gyeonggi Province will not proceed while he is in office. If this happens, all five criminal trials that President Lee is facing will be suspended during his term.
Interpretations of Article 84 of the Constitution vary. President Lee Jae-myung previously stated during the presidential election period that "even ongoing trials would be suspended during the president's term." On the other hand, there were strong counterarguments in the legal community that "ongoing trials would continue even after the president's election."
In response, the Supreme Court stated in a written reply submitted to the National Assembly that "whether to apply Article 84 of the Constitution to a criminal defendant elected as president is a matter to be determined by the presiding judges handling the case."
In this instance, the trial panels for the election law case and the Daechang-dong case cited Article 84 of the Constitution as the basis for their consecutive postponements. This is interpreted as meaning that trials will not be conducted during President Lee Jae-myung's term.
A court official stated, "There is a phrase in Article 84 of the Constitution that means no criminal prosecution (referring to the usual criminal cases) can take place, and if prosecution cannot occur, it can naturally be interpreted that larger trials should not proceed either."
Another official mentioned, "If the intent of Article 84 of the Constitution is seen as ensuring stable governance for the president, it can be deemed appropriate to halt criminal trials during their term."