To swiftly proceed with trials for cases indicted by the three special counsels, the court will assign additional judges and expand the number of criminal panels. Analysts say this responds to the government and the Democratic Party of Korea arguing that a "dedicated insurrection panel" should be created to quickly handle insurrection cases.
On the 18th, the Seoul Central District Court said in a media notice that "the special counsel act stipulates that cases indicted by a special counsel be tried swiftly in priority over other trials," and unveiled measures to support the trials.
First, Criminal Division 25 (Presiding Judge Ji Gui-yeon), which is handling three insurrection cases including the trial of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, will have one additional judge assigned as of the 20th. The court said, "The additionally assigned judge will handle general cases of Criminal Division 25." In addition to judges, staff such as court reporters and bailiffs will also be added to the panels in charge of special counsel cases.
Next, the Seoul Central District Court plans to expand the number of criminal panels in line with the scale if the request to the National Court Administration for additional judges is granted.
Also, for the time being, the panels handling cases indicted by the special counsel will not be assigned general cases. The court said, "When one special counsel case is assigned, five general cases will not be assigned going forward," adding, "We will assign greater weight to special counsel cases to ease the workload of the panels in charge."
In addition, the panels in charge of special counsel cases will reassign the general cases they had been handling, and the number of criminal courtrooms will be increased. The court said, "We will continue to seek other measures and conduct swift and fair trials."