By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Supreme Court Chief Justice Lee Yong-hoon had a slight smile on his face heading to his office Friday morning but looks can be deceiving. As usual, Lee was tight-lipped when hit by a barrage of questions by a throng of reporters, who gathered for his reaction to a move by the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) to reform the judiciary.
The GNP announced a package of measures, Wednesday, aimed at overhauling the country's judicial system, without consulting the top court.
"This was a grave challenge to the independence of the court," the highest court reacted through its spokesman. Opposition parties joined the fray, arguing that the GNP was trying to tame the judiciary and make it more compliant with its political needs.
The governing party's proposal seeks to increase the number of justices by 10 to 24 and establish stricter eligibility requirements, requiring newcomers to be at least 45 years old with at least 15 years of legal experience.
It also would mandate the court to establish a committee comprised of nine panelists appointed by justices, a justice minister, the head of the Korean Bar Association and the head of law schools' association, to handle ㅡ among other things ㅡ promotions. To prevent diverse verdicts on similar criminal cases, the bill seeks to establish a committee associated with Cheong Wa Dae and draw binding guidelines to narrow the diversity.
The bill follows recent friction between the conservative party and the court, caused by a series of rulings that exonerated a progressive politician and producers of an investigative TV program, which brought nationwide backlash against President Lee Myung-bak in 2008.
The GNP has insisted these no-guilty verdicts handed down by judges showed the latter were still under the influence of the two liberal predecessors before President Lee.
The Supreme Court issued an unprecedented statement through the Minister of the National Court Administration Park Ill-hoan.
"The independence of the judiciary is a prerequisite for fair trials and it's protected by the Constitution," stressed Park. "The court must lead any changes with it.
"The bill was made arbitrarily by the ruling party without any consultation with us, which is very inappropriate," said Park, who is a member of the Supreme Court bench. "We express grave concern over the plan, which was made with no respect to the judiciary."
He added the Supreme Court will soon make public its own measures to provide better legal services.
Rep. Lee Joo-young of the GNP, who is in charge of the measures, called the statement an "overreaction."
"I don't think a reform plan produced by the court will work," Lee said. "Also, the announced plan was just an interim one. We will shape the bill through negotiations with opposition parties and the court."
Opposition parties say the proposal will push the court backwards.
"It will damage the independence of the court," a spokesman for the main opposition Democratic Party. "Forcing the court to have a committee that could be influenced by the President to discuss internal affairs does not make sense."
Rep. Lee Hoi-chang, chairman of the conservative Liberty Forward Party, also denounced the proposal, saying, "It is apparently politically motivated to tame the court."