National Judges' Representative Meeting Discusses Measures to Respond to 'Judge Attacks'

'Guidelines for Judges' Use of SNS' Also Proposed as Agenda Item

Attention is focused on whether measures will be introduced to protect judges from excessive criticism and other external attacks. There is also interest in whether guidelines for judges' use of SNS will be established.

On the 4th, judges attending the National Judges' Representative Meeting held at the Judicial Research and Training Institute in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province, are conducting a meeting. At this meeting, agenda items for establishing precautions and guidelines related to judges' use of social networking services (SNS) were discussed. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

The National Judges' Representative Meeting will hold its second regular meeting of the year on the 4th at the Judicial Research and Training Institute in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, to discuss ways to establish a system that can protect judicial independence. The National Judges' Representative Meeting is an official forum for judges to express opinions or make recommendations on matters related to judicial administration and judicial independence.

Park Won-kyu, Chief Judge of Daejeon District Court and chairperson of the National Judges' Representative Meeting, said in his opening remarks, "Many citizens are concerned about judicial independence, political neutrality, and delays in trials," adding, "I hope today's meeting will be an opportunity to empathize with these public concerns and seek solutions."

The Representative Meeting will discuss a total of seven agenda items. These include ▲matters to be noted when judges use SNS ▲amendments to internal regulations related to submitting opinions on Supreme Court rules ▲agenda and related internal regulation amendments concerning the collection of judges' consensus for the composition of Supreme Court justices ▲improvements to the personnel hearing support procedures ▲shortening the minimum legal career period required for judicial appointments ▲introduction of a senior judge system ▲and urging the establishment of a system to protect judicial independence from excessive attacks.

Among the agenda items at this meeting, the guidelines for judges' SNS use and the establishment of a system to protect judges have attracted the most attention. After the arrest warrant for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was dismissed, some civic groups have increased attacks on individual judges, such as publicly naming Yuchang-hoon, the chief judge in charge of warrants at Seoul Central District Court, posting critical comments online, and hanging banners with critical messages in front of the court.

In response, voices have emerged within the National Judges' Representative Meeting calling for a system that can protect judicial independence through judicial branch-level responses rather than targeting individual judges. This agenda item was submitted for discussion after being supported by four or more members besides the proposer. According to the rules of the National Judges' Representative Meeting, any agenda item supported by at least four members other than the proposer seven days before the meeting can be placed on the agenda.

The guidelines for judges' SNS use, proposed by the Judicial Trust and Judicial Ethics Subcommittee within the National Judges' Representative Meeting, are also expected to be prepared at this meeting. Previously, Park Byung-gon, a judge at Seoul Central District Court who sentenced Jeong Jin-seok, a member of the People Power Party, to prison, sparked controversy by posting messages on his personal SNS that appeared to support the opposition party. Later, he reportedly posted on his SNS a message saying, "After losing the presidential election last March, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, 'Have a drink for about two days, and from the third day, you have to get up,'" which also caused controversy.

The National Judges' Representative Meeting will conduct discussions to autonomously raise awareness regarding SNS use and to establish specific and reasonable guidelines reflecting the opinions of frontline judges sufficiently.

Measures to establish a legal basis for the 'Personnel Hearing Preparation Team,' an organization supporting candidates in the appointment process of the Chief Justice and Supreme Court justices, will also be discussed. Additionally, discussions will be held on concretizing the scope of roles and the format of opinion expression for members of the Supreme Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee.

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