Lee Jae-yong's Lawyer and Special Prosecutor Submit Conflicting Expert Opinions... Judicial Risk Expected to Prolong

Vice Chairman Lee's Side "Recommending Lawyers with Fairness and Rationality"
Special Prosecutor Rejects Expert Psychological Committee... "Believes Expert Psychological Review of This Case and Procedures Are Illegal"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The legal team of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and the special prosecution submitted 'conflicting opinions' regarding the expert review procedure of Samsung's Compliance Committee. Lee's legal team selected expert reviewers according to the court's order, while the special prosecution submitted an opinion opposing the expert review procedure. As a result, Lee's judicial risk is expected to be prolonged.

According to Lee's legal team and the special prosecution on the 1st, both parties submitted their opinions on the Compliance Committee's expert review procedure to the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Jung Jun-young) on the afternoon of the 31st of last month.

On that day, the legal team selected expert reviewers for the Compliance Committee and submitted them to the court. The legal team plans to explain to the court their opinions regarding the individuals selected as expert reviewers and the reasons and procedures related to the selection. Lee's legal representative stated, “We selected legal professionals who possess fairness and rationality and are acceptable to the court.”

On the other hand, the special prosecution holds the position that the establishment of Samsung's Compliance Committee cannot be considered in Lee's sentencing. The court previously mentioned, based on Chapter 8 of the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines, that improvements such as establishing corporate compliance systems could be considered in Lee's sentencing. The special prosecution submitted an opinion stating that this guideline is a system for considering corporate sentencing in corporate crimes, not for individual sentencing. A special prosecution official said, “We believe that conducting an expert review on this case itself is illegal both substantively and procedurally.”

As the possibility of a delay in Lee's next retrial increases, his judicial risk is expected to be prolonged. The court plans to hold a procedure on the 14th of this month where the three individuals selected by the court, including former Constitutional Court Justice Kang Il-won, as well as those selected by the legal team and the special prosecution, will explain their positions and discuss important points to be addressed in the expert review procedure. The special prosecution is expected to challenge the appropriateness of the expert review procedure again. In the business community, concerns about management uncertainty due to the prolonged trial of Lee are also being sensed. A business official explained, “There is a possibility that this could lead to delays in decisions on major issues such as important contracts of Samsung Electronics in the future.”

Previously, at the first retrial hearing held in October last year, the court ordered ▲bold innovation ▲establishment of internal compliance systems ▲correction of the evils of the chaebol system. In response, Samsung appointed former Supreme Court Justice Kim Ji-hyung (representative lawyer of the law firm Jipyung) as the chairman of the Compliance Committee and formed the committee. Samsung's major affiliates, including Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, and Samsung Life Insurance, which agreed to be monitored by the Compliance Committee, decided to strengthen their internal compliance organizations to establish an effective compliance system and have implemented these measures.

The next trial is scheduled to be held on the 14th of this month at 2:05 p.m. at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul, as a preparatory hearing for the expert review of the Compliance Committee.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.