On the 24th, Court Administration Minister Cheon Dae-yeop said the process of referring President Lee Jae-myung's Public Official Election Act case to the Supreme Court's full bench was "decided following review by all justices."
At a full meeting of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee that day, Minister Cheon said, "From the time (the president's case) was filed on Mar. 28, all justices began reviewing the record, and it was a case agreed to be handled by the full bench."
Minister Cheon's remarks are related to the Democratic Party of Korea raising suspicions of Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's "intervention in the presidential election" based on the process of referring the president's case to the Supreme Court's full bench.
Democratic Party lawmakers, including Rep. Jeon Hyun-hee, argued at the meeting that "a case initially allotted to a division was referred to the full bench after Chief Justice Cho intervened midway." They said Chief Justice Cho played a decisive role in the full bench overturning the appellate court's conclusion and issuing a remand ruling that sent the case back to the high court.
In response, Minister Cheon said, "As explained in detail in the 'majority concurring opinion' of the full bench's judgment, the justices promptly began identifying the facts and issues based on the first-instance and appellate (second-instance) judgments and the trial record, and they familiarized themselves without delay as the petition for appeal and the reply were submitted." He added, "The chief justice proceeded with follow-up procedures after confirming each justice's view one by one."
Minister Cheon also said, "In principle, cases appealed to the Supreme Court are handled by the full bench, and for convenience and swift processing they can be referred to a division," adding, "Even for a full-bench case, a reporting justice must be designated, so a specific justice is decided as the reporting justice through random computerized assignment of dividends, and once the reporting justice is decided, it only appears as though it was assigned to the division (the reporting justice) belongs to."
As for the claim that a single panel should consolidate and hear cases investigated and indicted by a special counsel, he said, "If the prosecution or the special counsel had indicted them all at once, of course a single panel would have heard them, but they were split for indictment," adding, "If you try to additionally consolidate cases while a trial is already underway, it could drag on endlessly for not one year but two or three years."
Meanwhile, regarding the move led by the Democratic Party to push for a confirmation hearing for Chief Justice Cho at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Minister Cheon said, "It appears aimed at making the procedure and content of the (president's) full-bench ruling the subject of a hearing," adding, "Under the Act on the Inspection and Investigation of State Administration, which bars the National Assembly from intervening in or investigating a case under trial, I do not think it qualifies as a hearing subject."