Former President Yoon Suk-yeol's side filed a constitutional complaint against the Special Act on Criminal Procedure for Crimes of Insurrection, Treason, and Rebellion, which served as the basis for composing the appellate panel in the insurrection ringleader case. They argue that the dedicated panel, live broadcasting of trials, and exclusion of defendant de-identification measures create a structure more unfavorable than ordinary criminal procedure, infringing the right to a fair trial.
On Apr. 2, according to legal sources, Yoon's side filed a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court on Mar. 31 over the law. The defense team argued that "the state designs the structure of a specific criminal trial to institutionally reinforce the social stigma unfavorable to the defendant, and turns the trial process itself into a forum of public opinion, placing significant pressure on judges' formation of conviction and the defendant's exercise of the right to defense."
The law in question passed the National Assembly in Dec. last year and took effect upon promulgation on Jan. 6 this year. It requires the Seoul Central District Court and the Seoul High Court to each have two dedicated panels for insurrection, treason, and rebellion or related cases recognized as being of national importance. In the early legislative stages, there were constitutional concerns that it could shake the principle of random assignment, but the final version was settled in a way that grants the courts considerable discretion in the actual process of designating panels.
The Seoul High Court, after a full judges' meeting, used a random draw among criminal divisions to designate Criminal Division 1 (High Court Judges Yoon Sung-sik, Min Sung-cheol, and Lee Dong-hyun) and Criminal Division 12 (High Court Judges Lee Seung-chul, Cho Jin-goo, and Kim Min-a) as dedicated panels for insurrection. The appeal in Yoon's insurrection ringleader case is being handled by the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 12. Yoon was previously sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial.
Yoon's side has protested since the bill's passage late last year that the law effectively amounts to establishing a special court and is potentially unconstitutional. This time, however, instead of asking the appellate panel to refer the law for a constitutional review, they chose a relief-type constitutional complaint in which the party directly contests an infringement of fundamental rights. In legal circles, unlike the Constitutional Court's dismissal for lack of self-relatedness of a prior complaint filed by the People Power Party challenging the same law, some note it is hard to rule out a merits judgment here because Yoon is an actual party to the trial.
Yoon's side has already filed multiple constitutional complaints over the special counsel law on insurrection. This petition directly targets the very statute underlying the composition of the appellate panel, suggesting an intention to reignite the debate over procedural legitimacy separately from the substance of the appeal.