The Supreme Court will create a new rule allowing the establishment of a dedicated panel to handle the Dec. 3 martial law case. It says cases will be assigned at random, and the panel that receives the case will be designated as the dedicated panel so that a ruling can come quickly. This differs from the Democratic Party's proposal to form a recommendation committee to constitute the panel, setting up a likely political dispute.
The Supreme Court said on the 18th that at a Supreme Court justices' administrative meeting it decided to enact a "rule on the establishment of dedicated panels and hearing procedures for nationally important cases."
According to the Supreme Court, as first-instance proceedings related to the Dec. 3 martial law case near conclusion, the Seoul High Court requested that office allocations and criteria for assigning cases be clearly set to ensure swift and fair proceedings, including by operating a concentrated-hearing panel.
The National Court Administration accepted this and, in addition to plans already under review, prepared a draft rule. The justices met that day and decided to enact the rule. It is expected to take effect before the appeals trials related to martial law begin in earnest.
The rule provides for establishing a dedicated panel that will focus exclusively on target cases—crimes of insurrection and treason under the Criminal Act and mutiny under the Military Criminal Act—in light of their national importance and the need for swift handling.
Cases will be assigned at random, and the panel that receives a target case will be designated as the dedicated panel. The Supreme Court said this is "to ensure the fairness of trials."
Once designated as a dedicated panel, it will, in principle, reassign all cases it had been hearing to other panels. The court president will provide personnel and material support so the dedicated panel can conduct swift and thorough proceedings.
Explaining the background for enacting the rule, the Supreme Court said, "At the national court presidents' meeting on the 5th and the national judges' representatives' meeting on the 8th, serious concerns were expressed about the insurrection-dedicated panel bill that had been approved by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee." It added, "At the 'public hearing on judicial system reform for the people' held from the 9th, several panelists also requested that, before passing the insurrection-dedicated panel bill, the judiciary itself take steps for swift trials."
Regarding the rule, it said the purpose is "to address concerns of the public and the National Assembly about the swift and fair progress of trials in nationally important cases." It added, "With this rule, without procedural delays such as requests for constitutional review of the (Democratic Party's) law to create an insurrection-dedicated panel, we can promote swift and fair trials while maintaining the principles of randomness and arbitrariness in office allocation and case assignment."
On the 16th, the Democratic Party decided to revise its bill to establish an insurrection-dedicated panel so that it would be created from the appellate level for martial law-related trials, with the courts themselves constituting the panel. The party says it aims to eliminate potential "unconstitutionality" as much as possible, but criticism that it remains unconstitutional is still coming from the opposition bloc and the legal community.
Under the Democratic Party's revised bill to establish an insurrection-dedicated panel, judges for the panel would be appointed by the chief justice after deliberation at a justices' conference, from a list recommended by a recommendation committee. The recommendation committee would consist solely of internal court personnel, such as the judges' conference. The Democratic Party plans to finalize the bill and pass it at a plenary session of the National Assembly on the 23rd–24th.