Supreme Court Justice No Jeong-hee Denies 'Interference in Trial'... "Never Received Administrative Office Documents"

Former Deputy Chief Im Jong-heon Appears as Trial Witness, Second Sitting Supreme Court Justice

Justice No Jeong-hee /

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] Supreme Court Justice No Jeonghee (57, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 19) testified in court on the 'abuse of judicial administrative power' case that she "never received any materials related to the Unified Progressive Party from the Court Administration Office."

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 36 (Presiding Judge Yoon Jongseop) questioned Justice No as a witness on the 24th during the trial of former Deputy Director of the Court Administration Office Lim Jongheon. This is the second time a sitting Supreme Court Justice has appeared as a witness in the 'judicial scandal' trial, following Justice Lee Dongwon on the 11th.

On this day, Justice No said, "I tried to recall after seeing media reports, but I have never received or read any documents from the Administration Office." She added, "No matter how much I try to recall, I have not received such documents, and even if my memory is not precise due to the passage of time, I do not think I could remember it differently."

This directly contradicts the prosecution's allegations. Previously, Justice No ruled that the retirement disposition was unfair in the appellate trial of an administrative lawsuit filed by a former Jeonbuk Provincial Assembly member from the old Unified Progressive Party, who requested the cancellation of the retirement disposition of a proportional representation local council member, while she was working at the Gwangju High Court Jeonju Branch in 2016.

The prosecution claims that before Justice No delivered the ruling, she received a document from the Administration Office stating that "even if the Constitutional Court has decided to dissolve the party, the court must determine whether the assembly member retains their position." The Administration Office is believed to have exerted influence on frontline courts to prevent 'dismissal' rulings, aiming to check the Constitutional Court, which has competed with the Supreme Court over its status as the highest judicial institution.

However, during her testimony, Justice No explained, "If the head of the Administration Office's Policy Office had said they would send materials and I had replied 'Please do so,' I do not think I would have forgotten that." She also revealed that she received a phone call from former Standing Commissioner Lee Gyu-jin of the Sentencing Commission and discussed the case while hearing the Unified Progressive Party local council members' case.

Meanwhile, the Seoul High Court recommended all trial divisions to postpone trial dates scheduled until the 4th of next month to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), but the trial division handling former Deputy Director Lim's case has decided not to postpone the dates for now.

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