Itanhee Proposes Increasing Supreme Court Justices from 14 to 48... "Must Overcome 'Misjudgment Man'"

Lee Tan-hee, Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Lee Tan-hee, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, has proposed a bill to significantly increase the number of Supreme Court justices. The aim is to diversify the justices, who are currently markedly fewer in number compared to advanced countries and are homogenized as male graduates from specific universities.

On the 3rd, Lee announced that he had proposed an amendment to the Court Organization Act to increase the number of Supreme Court justices from the current 14 to 48. Excluding the Chief Justice and the Court Administration Chief, who only handle judicial administration tasks, there are effectively 12 justices responsible for appellate (third instance) trials, resulting in about 4,000 cases per justice.

Lee pointed out, "Substantive and in-depth discussions are limited, and a significant number of cases are concluded without oral arguments," adding, "A large portion of the justices and candidates are in their 50s, senior judges, males (O-pan-nam), and graduates from specific universities (Seo-o-nam)."

He also argued that despite the abolition of the promotion system for chief judges of high courts, 7 out of 8 nominees (including those currently in the nomination process) recommended by the current Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo are former chief judges of high courts, which goes against the contemporary demand for diversity among Supreme Court justices.

The population per Supreme Court justice is 650,000 in Germany, 580,000 in France, and 550,000 in Spain, but in Korea, even including the Chief Justice and the Court Administration Chief, it reaches 3.7 million. This is an extremely insufficient number compared to other countries.

Lee emphasized, "Due to the heavy workload, candidates who are not so-called ‘O-pan-nam’ generally hesitate to be recommended, resulting in the Supreme Court becoming a ‘league of their own (senior judges).’ I proposed this bill to catch both rabbits: improving appellate trials and diversifying the justices."

The amendment also stipulates that the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction shall be exercised by a quorum of at least half of all justices as prescribed by Supreme Court rules, and that cases may be tried by a division (部) composed of four or more justices only if the division first reviews the case and reaches a unanimous opinion.

Lee stressed, "As seen in the recent Son Jung-woo ruling, some judges’ decisions are criticized for being out of touch with the advancing public consciousness and global trends, which is due to the court’s closed nature and promotion structure. Like other countries, Korea’s courts must produce many justices with diverse professional and social backgrounds, such as unmarried female justices and young lawyer justices, to keep pace with the maturing public consciousness."

According to a 2018 survey related to appellate reform by the National Judges’ Representative Meeting’s Judicial System Subcommittee (898 respondents), 54% agreed with ‘increasing the number of justices,’ and 30.7% supported doubling the number to 13 or more. In the same year, a survey by the Korean Bar Association among its members showed that 78% supported ‘increasing the number of justices.’

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