By Lee Kyung-min
A liberal judge, who was subject to an institution-wide monitoring and surveillance by the Supreme Court, said he would file a lawsuit against the top court over an allegation that a former chief justice orchestrated efforts to meddle in and abuse the judiciary to suit the 2013-17 Park Geun-hye administration, in return for administrative favors to advance his agenda.
Cha Sung-an, a researcher at the Judicial Policy Research Institute, said he would seek legal action against the top court _ by extension the government _ criticizing the ongoing “lukewarm” efforts to hold the high-profile related figures appropriately accountable. “If the special investigation committee cannot recommend that a criminal charge be filed, a stance ostensibly echoed by the current chief justice, I will do so myself with the public,” An wrote on Facebook.
The move is a legitimate course of action, Cha added, as a civil servant is required to file a criminal complaint upon knowledge of any illicit activities concerning duty or capacity as the public servant. “I urge my fellow judges to answer honestly if we could be able to acquit any administrative body indicted for similar offences, such as abuse of power, dereliction of duty, evidence destruction, following allegation that they sanctioned the surveillance of a similar sort? Who would trust the judiciary if judges refuse to duly punish other judges involved in the crime just because they are one of us? I cannot expect any judicial reform from this institution. Let's just let this incident be recorded in history.”
The comment is in direct reference to a recent scandal involving the Office of Court Administration (OCA), under the top court, which drafted documents, under suspected direction of former chief justice Yang Sung-tae, to help it strengthen “negotiating power” in leveraging a swift passage of the law that would have allowed the establishment of a de facto Second Supreme Court, his top initiative. The allegation was substantiated by the findings disclosed by the special committee that led the third investigation into the suspected creation of a “blacklist of judges,” based on which punitive measures were imposed against liberal group of judges that criticized the “unlimited” power of chief justice with systematic support from the OCA. The top court-supervised body consists only of a top-performing elite group of judges are posted with a great, “guaranteed” prospect of promotion.
The committee-unveiled documents showed the OCA sought a two-track approach in setting up what would have been the “Second Supreme Court,” which would have helped many senior judges retain the highly coveted post longer. While only slightly over half of the 410 files were partially cited by the investigation committee as reference, the content drew much outrage as it showed specific efforts to trade court rulings for Park's administrative discretion.
The table of contents included ways to pressure Korea Bar Association, ways to counter Lawyers for Democratic Society, a group of liberal lawyers, and ways to signal and monitor what it called “problematic” judges. It also included ways to help Cheong Wa Dae establish justification and ways to use (as a means of PR) Chosun Ilbo, a major right-wing newspaper in Korea.
Meanwhile, OCA head Ahn Chul-sang refused to disclose the remaining files reviewed by the special committee. The current chief justice Kim Myeong-soo earlier said he was considering filing a criminal complaint with the prosecution against his predecessor.