By Kang Seung-woo
The ruling party's move to form an independent judicial panel to “fairly” handle a power-abuse scandal is gaining steam, helped by bipartisan support.
However, some legal experts are expressing concerns over its possible unconstitutionality. It also needs to get the nod from the main opposition party.
On Tuesday, ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) floor leader Hong Young-pyo said his party will try to make a law to form an independent judicial panel in no relation to the power abuse scandal to preside over the cases of former and incumbent judges involved in it.
It was the first time the ruling party leadership, rather than an individual lawmaker, indicated the creation of such a judge panel. Currently, a bill proposed by DPK Rep. Park Ju-min is pending at the National Assembly.
The plan came as no one has been arrested or indicted despite the prosecution's four-month investigation into the allegation, in which former Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae used politically sensitive trials as bargaining chips in dealings with the Park Geun-hye administration to curry favor for the establishment of a new court of appeals. Local courts also rejected dozens of search warrant requests from the prosecution.
“Considering the current members of the judicial panel, we cannot be assured of fair trial results,” Hong said in a party meeting, adding that five of seven judges at the panel dealing with criminal cases are linked to the power abuse scandal.
“It is like letting the fox guard the henhouse.”
Minor opposition parties welcome the suggestion.
“We need to uproot deeply entrenched judicial problems through the independent judges,” Justice Party chairwoman Rep. Lee Jeong-mi said Wednesday.
Rep. Kim Kwan-young, the floor leader of the minor conservative Bareunmirae Party, also said no one will trust the courts unless they cooperate with the investigation of the scandal.
The Supreme Court has yet to issue an official statement on the ruling party's plans, but ranking judges oppose it, saying it may violate the Constitution.
“We need to take a cautious approach to introducing it,” Choe Wan-joo, the chief of the Seoul High Court, told lawmakers during a National Assembly audit last week.
“A fair judgment starts with a random assignment of a trial. In that respect, picking a specific judge for another specific trial may invite controversy.”
The main opposition Liberty Korea Party also remains negative on the issue.
Meanwhile, prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for Lim Jong-hun, a former deputy head of the National Court Administration (NCA), Tuesday, on charges of his role in illicit lobbying and trial manipulation. The NCA is the Supreme Court's administrative body.
He is accused of being the key man who was in charge of carrying out Yang's schemes. In addition, the prosecution identified Yang and other former NCA chiefs as Lim's accomplices.
But many say the warrant may not be issued, considering the prosecution's search warrant requests for Lim's home and office have been rejected multiple times.