‘Chief Judge Panel’ in One Month... Trial Dates Set for 3 Long-Unsolved Cases

Published 20 Mar.2024 15:05(KST)

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The ‘Chief Judge Panel,’ where frontline court chiefs directly handle trials, is leading the resolution of complex cases and is evaluated to have entered a normal trajectory just one month after its launch. As the bottleneck in handling ‘old cases’ such as long-term unsolved cases and remanded cases is easing, signs are emerging that the ‘restoration of the judiciary’ effect will spread to the public suffering from trial backlogs.

According to the Court Administration Office, all 37 courts nationwide currently have a chief judge trial system in place. Chief judges with extensive trial experience mainly handle complex cases, accelerating case processing speed.

[Image source=Beomryul Newspaper]

Some courts have already scheduled sentencing dates for long-term unsolved cases just one month after the new division of duties began. Kim Seyoon (57, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 25), Chief Judge of Suwon District Court, conducted the first trial on the 14th of this month as the presiding judge of the civil appeal long-term unsolved case division. Chief Judge Kim prioritized assigning cases without designated hearing dates to guarantee the parties’ ‘right to face-to-face proceedings.’ Among the seven cases tried that day, three had their hearings concluded and are scheduled for sentencing on the 18th of next month.

Kim Gukhyeon (58, class 24), Chief Judge of Seoul Administrative Court, also conducted his first trial on the 18th. On that day, Chief Judge Kim held hearings for 14 cases, most of which had been pending for over five years since filing. Among them was a case that had been pending in the first trial for about ten years. Chief Judge Kim said, “It is an honor personally to conduct trials as a chief judge. By handling even some cases together in the current reality faced by the courts, we can get closer to the public and restore judicial trust by processing some of the backlog and long-delayed cases. I am glad to have the opportunity to demonstrate this as a chief judge.” Having worked at the Administrative Court four times?the first since its opening?he is known to have considered various aspects of the division of duties for the chief judge’s trial work immediately after his appointment.

On the 18th, Seoul Northern District Court also held hearings for nine long-term unsolved civil cases in a special trial panel presided over by Park Hyungsun (53, class 27), Chief Judge of Seoul Northern District Court, with two senior judges as associate judges. The presiding judges were the heads of two civil panels originally responsible for the reassigned long-term unsolved cases. To expedite the handling of long-term unsolved cases, the Northern District Court adopted the form of a collegial panel by assigning judicial researchers to the special trial panel.

A representative of Seoul Northern District Court explained, “By appointing the presiding judges of the reassigned long-term unsolved cases as the presiding judges of the special trial panel, we maintained continuity in case management and ensured proper management of the reassigned long-term unsolved cases.”

Chief judge trials will also begin at Seoul Eastern District Court (22nd), Southern District Court (25th), Western District Court (27th), and Central District Court (28th).

Evaluations of the chief judge trials inside and outside the courtroom have also been positive so far. A party involved in a trial on the 18th said, “I felt that the parties’ opinions were listened to and the proceedings went smoothly. Since the chief judge personally oversees the case, I think the results will also gain trust.”

Junior judges’ evaluations are also favorable. A senior judge at a court in the Seoul metropolitan area said, “I think this is the most visible effort by the courts to address the biggest problem of trial delays. Going forward, it seems that it will no longer feel awkward for chief judges to handle trial duties, and an atmosphere prioritizing speedy trials across all courts is being established.”

Another senior judge said, “As long-term unsolved cases accumulate in each panel every year, I used to feel burdened whenever the division of duties changed, but that burden will greatly decrease. However, since the chief judge’s judicial administrative duties are also considerable, solving the shortage of judicial personnel is necessary.”