A petition to recuse the panel in the case of former Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young, filed by prosecutors who said the conduct of proceedings was unfair, was rejected at first instance.
The Suwon District Court Criminal Division 12, presided over by Presiding Judge Park Geon-chang, said on the 9th it had rejected on the 8th a motion by a Suwon District Prosecutors' Office prosecutor to recuse Criminal Division 11, presided over by Presiding Judge Song Byung-hoon.
The panel explained the grounds for dismissal, saying, "What the prosecutor asserts as grounds for recusal—such as the presiding judge's setting of hearing dates, evidence rulings, plans to conduct the jury trial, and methods of examining witnesses—relates to the presiding judge's direction of proceedings and methods of trial."
Under the Criminal Procedure Act, a prosecutor may seek recusal of a judge "when there is concern that the judge will conduct an unfair trial." The panel said, "The phrase 'when there is concern that an unfair trial will be conducted' refers to circumstances in which it is reasonable to harbor suspicions that an unfair trial will be conducted."
The panel also said, "Although a significant number of the witnesses requested by the prosecutor were excluded, the defendant has already agreed to the evidence for key figures among them, and it appears the court selected witnesses by narrowing to those with a high degree of relevance based on the Ministry of Justice's fact-finding results," adding, "It is difficult to conclude that the prosecutor will be hindered from presenting key circumstances or statements supporting the charges in the jury trial."
Earlier, three prosecutors from the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Criminal Division 6 and one trial prosecutor orally moved to recuse the judge and walked out at the 10th pretrial date on the 25th, in the case against the former vice governor for alleged violations of the Act on Testimony and Appraisal, etc., before the National Assembly and other charges, which was being heard by Suwon District Court Criminal Division 11.
Prosecutors applied to call 64 witnesses, including all correctional officers in charge of escorting the former vice governor to court. The panel, saying "To complete the jury trial within the period, the examination of witnesses must be minimized," allowed only six as witnesses. Prosecutors countered that "telling us to prove the indictment with the few witnesses the panel selected amounts to abandoning the evidentiary presentation."
In connection with this, President Lee Jae-myung on the 26th ordered a strict inspection of the prosecutors who staged the collective walkout, and the Suwon High Prosecutors' Office is currently conducting the inspection. Minister Jung Sung-ho said at The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee meeting on the 3rd, "It is very rare for prosecutors to seek a judge's recusal," adding, "Filing the motion and immediately walking out is somewhat excessive and problematic."
The trial of the former vice governor was suspended due to the prosecutor's recusal motion. The jury trial, which had been scheduled for five days starting on the 15th of this month, was also postponed. Prosecutors plan to decide whether to appeal after reviewing the written first-instance decision.