[Editorial] Courts Have Opportunity to be Reborn

Amidst earnest efforts to clarify the truth about unresolved issues of the past, there are now voices from within the court system calling for self-examination regarding shameful court judgments from the past that were issued because judges surrendered to those in power or tried to please them. Meanwhile the Supreme Court will be welcoming in a new chief justice whose term will last six years. This is the best possible opportunity for the judicial branch to be reborn and have the people's trust.

The burden the courts have to bear is a heavy one. There have been many cases where they issued judgments that go against common sense and logic, and sentences issued based on tortured confessions. Some judgments have been criticized for being "judicial murder." No small number of people continue to suffer from the resulting wounds. The courts cannot avoid their responsibility simply because most of the judges who tried to impress the political powers that be with their decisions have since retired.

The courts need to step up to the occasion and resolve its own past issues if it wants to restore the people's trust. It should do so also for the sake of the independence of the judicial branch. The new chief justice of the Supreme Court must be more proactive than anyone. The National Assembly hearing on nominee Yi Yong Hun begins Thursday. He should openly recognize that the there were shameful judgments issued by the country's courts in the past and announce that he will actively help those who suffered as a consequence.

Setting right the past must immediately involve redeeming people who have been wronged with wrongful judgments by issuing new ones. The conditions for having the Supreme Court retry individual cases are excessively complicated, but no one should be denied vindication because of that. If the court system wants to be reborn as the final bastion of civil rights it needs to accept petitions for retrial based on the results of inquiries by the National Human Rights Commission and elsewhere. The National Assembly needs to do its part and organize the legislative framework. In his Liberation Day address president Roh Moo Hyun proposed that the country amend the criminal code to allow more flexibility in accepting petitions for retrial. This is not something that should be passed by without giving it the proper attention.

The Hankyoreh, 6 September 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]