Following the enforcement of the law establishing dedicated panels for insurrection cases at the Seoul High Court, discussions began on the 15th to form the panel that will handle the second trial of former President Yoon Suk-yeol on charges of being the ringleader of an insurrection.
Around 2 p.m. that day, the Seoul High Court convened a full judges' meeting to discuss criteria for forming the dedicated panel. The meeting is being held behind closed doors. The chair is Chief Judge Kim Dae-woong.
The discussion is a follow-up to the "Special Act on Criminal Procedures for Crimes of Insurrection, Treason, and Rebellion," which passed the National Assembly under the lead of the Democratic Party of Korea and took effect on the 6th. The law requires the Seoul Central District Court and the Seoul High Court to each establish two dedicated panels for insurrection, treason, and rebellion cases, or related cases, when recognized as being of national importance.
At the judges' meeting, they will discuss the number of dedicated panels under the special act, the qualifications of judges to make up the panels, and other criteria and matters necessary for implementation. Earlier, the Seoul High Court's case allocation committee was reported to have reviewed a case allocation plan to be submitted to the full judges' meeting.
An official at the high court said, "We will make thorough preparations to ensure fair and swift proceedings for cases subject to the special act."
Under the special act, each court's judges' meeting establishes criteria for forming the dedicated panel, the case allocation committee allocates work according to those criteria, and after a resolution by the judges' meeting, the chief judge assigns judges to the dedicated panel.
In principle, the dedicated panel is established from the first trial, but a supplementary provision allows the panel already handling a case to continue if the trial was already underway when the law took effect.
The first-instance verdict in the former president's insurrection ringleader case is scheduled for next month, making the second trial subject to the dedicated panel. As for the former president's case on obstruction of arrest and others, with a verdict set for the 16th, there is also talk that it could first be assigned to the dedicated panel as a "related case."