The Supreme Court will hold a national meeting of court presidents on the 12th. Discussions among court presidents nationwide are expected regarding the progress of the Democratic Party of Korea's 'five key issues for judicial reform.'
According to the legal community on the 5th, the Supreme Court will hold a temporary meeting of the national court presidents on the 12th at 2 p.m. at the Seocho-dong courthouse. The national court presidents' meeting is attended by high-ranking judges, including court presidents from various levels, the head of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and the head of the Judicial Policy Research Institute, with regular meetings held every December.
Previously, Minister Cheon Dae-yeop noted in a post titled 'Remarks regarding discussions on judicial reform' on the court's internal network (CourtNet) that the Democratic Party of Korea's 'five key issues for judicial reform' are an 'extraordinary emergency situation,' stating that a nationwide meeting of court presidents will be convened soon.
Minister Cheon requested that various courts gather opinions from their affiliated judges.
The 'five key issues for judicial reform' being pursued by the Democratic Party of Korea include ▲ increasing the number of Supreme Court justices ▲ diversifying the composition of the Supreme Court nomination committee ▲ reforming the judges' evaluation system ▲ expanding the public disclosure of lower court rulings ▲ introducing a prior examination system for search warrants.
Regarding the proposal to increase the number of Supreme Court justices, Minister Cheon stated, 'If the law is amended to excessively increase the number of justices, large-scale judicial resources, including the personnel of research judges, could be concentrated in the Supreme Court,' adding that 'as a result, the capabilities of lower courts could be weakened.'
Minister Cheon commented on the proposed changes to the judges' evaluation system through the judges' evaluation committee, saying, 'Interference with judges' independence and the independence of trials through external evaluations and personnel interventions could lead to issues that undermine the very foundation of justice,' clearly stating that it is a position that is hard to accept.
Minister Cheon expressed support for the expansion of public access to lower court rulings but added that 'in the case of non-final criminal rulings, there may be concerns that the principle of presumption of innocence or the exercise of the right to defense could be substantially hindered, necessitating supplementary measures.' He also explained his support for the introduction of a prior examination system for search warrants based on the outcomes of past discussions from the judicial administration advisory council and the amendments to the criminal procedure rules, as well as previous review results.