Nine former presidents of the Korean Bar Association and four former presidents of the Korean Women Lawyers Association and others issued a statement on the 4th opposing the ruling party's push to establish a dedicated insurrection court and to create the crime of legal distortion. They said, "They must stop the threat to the rule of law and the principle of separation of powers."
They said, "The Constitution guarantees the people the right to a trial by a judge as prescribed by the Constitution and laws, and it guarantees the judiciary's personnel authority," and added, "But the bill promoted by the Democratic Party to establish a 'dedicated insurrection court' allows outside figures to intervene in the appointment of judges and thus violates the Constitution."
They said, "The current Constitution provides no basis for setting up a special court other than a Court-martial," and added, "A dedicated insurrection court undermines the fairness of trials in the composition of the bench and the exercise of jurisdiction." They continued, "Because a dedicated insurrection court would be swayed by and have no choice but to watch the mood of absolute legislative power, it would not only seriously infringe on the basic right of the people to a fair trial but also fundamentally damage the separation of powers, the pillar of democracy."
They pointed out that the crime of legal distortion would seriously violate the principle of clarity under the nullum crimen sine lege and directly collide with the criminal justice structure. They said, "The crime of legal distortion makes abstract concepts such as distorted interpretation of evidence, distortion of facts, and misapplication of statutes into elements of punishment," and added, "It would go beyond infringing judicial power to chill the independent judgment of judges and prosecutors and become a dangerous tool that triggers a flood of complaints and political control of the judiciary."
They continued, "In cases with limited evidence, prosecutors must decide on indictment by comprehensively assessing circumstantial evidence and the credibility of statements, but in cases without 'clear physical evidence,' there is a high likelihood they will fear punishment and lapse into defensive indictments," adding, "The attempt to establish a dedicated insurrection court and create the crime of legal distortion, which threatens the rule of law and the principle of separation of powers, is a dangerous idea and must be halted immediately."
The Democratic Party of Korea pushed through the 'special act on insurrection' and the 'act to create the crime of legal distortion (amendment to the Criminal Act),' which include provisions to establish a dedicated insurrection court, at The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 3rd.
The special act on insurrection would assign first and second trials of cases related to the Dec. 3 emergency martial law insurrection and external threat incidents to a dedicated bench, and require the separate appointment of at least two judges dedicated to warrants for insurrection cases. A recommendation committee composed of nine people recommended by the president of the Constitutional Court, the Minister of Justice, and the judges' conference would select candidates for the warrant-dedicated judges and judges to serve on the dedicated bench, and the chief justice of the Supreme Court would make the final appointments.
As for the crime of legal distortion, it would allow imposing punishment of up to 10 years in prison or up to 10 years of suspension of qualifications if a judge, prosecutor, or a person working at an investigative agency distorts the law for an improper purpose or grossly misjudges the facts and thereby misapplies the law.