The Seoul High Court decided to prioritize the establishment of two dedicated panels for insurrection and treason cases next month.
On the 15th, the Seoul High Court held a plenary meeting of judges and discussed criteria for forming dedicated panels following the implementation of the Special Act on Criminal Procedures for Crimes of Insurrection, Treason, and Rebellion.
As a result of the discussion, the Seoul High Court decided to initially set up two dedicated panels. This is because the special act stipulates that the Seoul Central District Court and the Seoul High Court must establish at least two dedicated panels to handle cases subject to the act.
The composition of the dedicated panels will be finalized to reflect the results of the regular judicial personnel appointments immediately after they are announced. The dedicated panels will operate in the form of a "coequal panel" consisting of three judges. A regular division is composed of one presiding judge and two associate judges, but at the high court level, mid-career judges hear and deliberate cases on an equal footing through coequal panels.
The dedicated panels are scheduled to begin full operations on Feb. 23, 2026, the date of the regular personnel appointments.
However, the Seoul High Court prepared preemptive measures in case related cases are filed even before the judicial personnel appointments. It designated Criminal Division 20, presided over by the senior presiding judge, as the "management panel" to handle pretrial tasks such as record management and ancillary orders until cases are assigned to the dedicated panels.
For the concrete implementation of the special act, the Seoul High Court plans to propose that the Supreme Court enact related regulations. It also decided to continue discussions in future meetings on the specific form and detailed composition of the dedicated panels. The next meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m. on the 29th.