It was found that about 40 complaints and accusations were filed nationwide just a month after the law distortion offense took effect.
According to the Korean National Police Agency on the 12th, a total of 44 cases of the law distortion offense were filed with city and provincial police agencies nationwide through the 25th after the offense took effect. The number of accused persons is 118.
The law distortion offense, which took effect on the 12th of last month, provides that when criminal judges, prosecutors, police, and others distort the law with the purpose of giving unlawful or unjust benefits to others or harming rights and interests, they are subject to up to 10 years in prison and up to 10 years of disqualification.
On the first day of enforcement, Chief Justice Jo Hee-de of the Supreme Court was accused to the police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) on the grounds that the Criminal Procedure Act was distorted in May last year during the process of the remand decision in President Lee Jae-myung's Public Official Election Act violation case. Presiding Judge Jee Kui-youn, who canceled former President Yoon Suk-yeol's arrest, and Prosecutor Park Sang-yong, who faces allegations of suborning perjury in connection with the case of former Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young, were also included among those accused.
However, since proving "intent" is the key requirement for the law distortion offense, there is an outlook that, unless the case is clear-cut, it will be difficult to lead to actual punishment. Even so, within the judiciary, concerns are being raised that the possibility of investigation alone could chill judges' decisions, regardless of whether punishment follows. In trial work, judges are given broad discretion over fact-finding and more, making it difficult to determine where to draw the line as an act of law distortion.
Taking such side effects into account, the judiciary has begun to prepare countermeasures. The National Court Administration plans to form a "criminal trial protection and support task force (TF)" to review support measures and pursue system improvements based on them.
Vice Minister Gi Woo-jong of the Administration posted a message on the court's intranet last month about countermeasures related to the "three judiciary laws" (law distortion offense, trial appeal, and increase in Supreme Court justices), saying, "We will carefully seek policy steps so that the law distortion offense does not become an obstacle to protecting judges' pride and so that the exercise of adjudication is not chilled."