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Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District
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Judicial community demands that courts “leave nothing off limits”
Judges are increasingly calling for a rigorous investigation to assign responsibility in a judicial misconduct scandal involving former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae. Presiding and associate judges at Seoul Central District Court – South Korea’s largest single court – held individual meetings at the court building on June 4 to express “profound concern” about the “serious diminishing of the public’s trust in the independence of judges and courts due to the abuses of judicial administrative authority during the previous Supreme Court Chief Justice’s terms.” “As members of the judiciary, we acutely sense responsibility for this,” they said. Both groups of judges voted to call for a “thorough investigation where nothing is off limits” to get to the bottom of the case. Fifty of 83 presiding judges and 72 of 128 associate judges at Seoul Central District Court attended the vote. The presiding judges urged current Chief Justice Kim Myeong-soo to “maintain strict neutrality in the future investigation and the trials that could take place as a result.” Twenty presiding and associate judges at Seoul Family Court also met together the same day to call for the disclosure of all documents related to administrative authority abuse allegations that the special investigation team has not yet made public. “We call for an impartial investigation into the alleged abuse of judicial administrative authority, leaving nothing off limits,” they said. They also agreed on the need for “effective countermeasures to ensure abuses of judicial administrative authority do not happen again.” Judges at Seoul High Court made a similar demand for measures to prevent future harm to trust in the courts following a separate meeting of their own. At Incheon District Court, presiding judges issued a message after a meeting the same day urging “rigorous assignment of responsibility according to what the law dictates, including investigations regardless of status.” Daegu District Court presiding judges concluded there was a “need for a rigorous investigation into anti-Constitutional incidents.” Attendees at a joint meeting of presiding and associate judges at Jeju District Court also agreed on the need to assign responsibility. During the court-led investigation of the situation over the past year, judges had been calling more for an “independent solution” by courts rather than a forcible investigation that could violate judicial independence. Their eventual decision to call for a “thorough investigation” appeared to reflect perceptions of deep distrust from the public surrounding the “court transactions” implicated in the scandal. An increasing number of observers said public opinion had only worsened after Yang’s apparently self-exculpatory remarks at a June 1 press conference, where he openly wondered, “Why do I have to be investigated?” Additional meetings of judges are scheduled to take place on June 5 at Seoul Central District Court (senior judges), Seoul Bankruptcy Court, Suwon District Court (all judges), and Busan District Court (associate judges). In an unusual development, vice minister-level head judges at Seoul High court had their own meeting on the afternoon of June 4. By Ko Han-sol, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
