“Ruling Party’s Push for Increasing Supreme Court Justices Without Judiciary Participation an Extraordinary Situation” Nationwide Chief Judges’ Meeting Planned

Chief Cheon Posts Message on Internal Network
Calls for Gathering Judges' Opinions
to Prepare Response Measures

Cheon Daeyeop, Chief of the Court Administration Office, is responding to questions regarding President Yoon Seokyeol's decision to cancel detention at the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly on March 12, 2025. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

The Supreme Court has informed chief judges nationwide that a careful review is necessary regarding the “Five Major Judicial Reform Agendas” being promoted by the Democratic Party of Korea, and has begun a process to gather opinions.

According to the Court Administration Office on September 1, Cheon Daeyeop, Chief of the Court Administration Office, posted a message titled “Remarks on the Judicial Reform Discussions” on the internal court network (Courtnet) community for chief judges. In this message, he shared the Supreme Court’s opinion that was submitted to the Democratic Party’s “Special Committee on People-Centered Judicial Reform.” Chief Cheon stated, “Unlike previous judicial reform discussions, this legislative initiative is proceeding rapidly without the official participation of the judiciary,” and emphasized, “Although we have pointed out issues several times, an extraordinary situation continues without any procedural improvements.” He added, “I ask each chief judge to thoroughly collect the opinions of the judges under your jurisdiction,” and said, “Based on these opinions, we are considering holding a nationwide chief judges’ meeting to discuss responses to judicial reform.”

The Supreme Court’s primary concern is the proposal to increase the number of Supreme Court justices. The Democratic Party’s special committee is pushing to expand the number of justices as a way to resolve case backlogs. However, the Court Administration Office pointed out, “Excessive increases could lead to a concentration of large-scale judicial resources, such as judicial researchers, at the Supreme Court, which may weaken fact-finding trials.” It also raised doubts about the effectiveness of the proposal, given practical constraints such as budget and facilities. Chief Cheon urged a cautious approach, saying, “If personnel and resources are drawn away from lower courts, the speed and quality of all trials could actually decline.”

Reform of the evaluation system centered on the Judicial Evaluation Committee is also a point of contention. The proposed reform is considering a system in which judges would be evaluated by a committee that includes external members, but the Court Administration Office has made it clear that such a system is essentially unacceptable. Chief Cheon stated, “External evaluations and personnel intervention could undermine the personal independence of judges and the independence of trials,” and clarified, “Systemic changes that could damage the foundation of the judiciary are difficult for the judicial community to accept.”

Regarding the expansion of public access to lower court rulings, the Supreme Court expressed general support in principle, but emphasized the need for caution in the case of non-finalized criminal verdicts. Chief Cheon explained, “We fully support the intention to improve public access to judicial information, but disclosing criminal verdicts that are not finalized could infringe on the presumption of innocence or the defendant’s right to defense,” and stressed the need for safeguards to be established during the legislative process.

The Supreme Court is considering holding a nationwide meeting of chief judges soon to discuss current issues related to judicial reform. Chief Cheon requested, “I ask each chief judge to gather a wide range of opinions from their respective judges,” and urged, “Please unite the voice of the judicial community so that the judicial reform discussions are not swayed by political circumstances.”

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