The Constitutional Court on the 2nd held a conference of the designated panel and referred two adjudication-on-trial cases to the full bench. Since the adjudication-on-trial system was introduced in March, a total of eight adjudication-on-trial cases have been sent to the full bench for review.
On this day, the Constitutional Court referred to the full bench a case seeking to overturn a judgment that was filed by a woman, identified as A, against the Suwon High Court.
Earlier, prosecutors indicted a man, identified as B, after A said she was the victim of quasi-rape by B in July 2022. In the first trial, the court acquitted B, saying it was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that B's conduct at the time constituted "violence or intimidation that made the victim's resistance significantly difficult." The appellate court also acquitted B, and the prosecutor abandoned the appeal, making the judgment final.
A then filed an adjudication-on-trial, saying the court followed existing Supreme Court precedents to acquit B, thereby infringing on her sexual self-determination and other rights. An official at the Constitutional Court said, "A review will be conducted on a range of issues, including the constitutional basic rights of criminal victims, the principle of double jeopardy for defendants, the presumption of innocence, and the scope of related fundamental rights."
The Constitutional Court also referred to the full bench a case seeking to overturn a judgment that was filed by a person with a physical disability, identified as C, against the Supreme Court. C has disabilities in both the upper and lower body and uses a wheelchair in daily life. C and others sought damages, arguing that the failure of city and intercity bus operators, the government, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and Gyeonggi Province to provide low-floor buses or wheelchair boarding facilities constitutes discriminatory conduct in violation of the Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities and the Act on Promotion of the Transportation Convenience of Mobility Disadvantaged Persons.
The trial and appellate courts ordered the defendants to provide wheelchair boarding facilities to the plaintiffs and dismissed the remaining claims. The Supreme Court held that the plaintiffs must specify the routes they are likely to use in the future, and the case was finalized after remand. In C's case, seven routes were specified, including two routes between Seoul, where C works, and Busan, where C's parents live, and five routes to Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, where C's sister is registered as a resident.
C filed an adjudication-on-trial, saying, "By limiting the likely routes to those connecting the workplace and family residences, it infringed on my right to mobility and my right to equality."