[NEWS IN FOCUS] Rudderless court system leaves major case rulings in limbo

The absence of a top chief justice continues to cause confusion in the nation's judiciary system, leaving major cases without a ruling.

A stop sign in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido. [YONHAP]

The confusion in the nation’s judiciary system caused by the vacancy of the top chief justice is expected to continue.

As the Democratic Party (DP)-controlled National Assembly rejected the Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee Lee Gyun-ryong on Friday, the nation’s court system is currently managed by Supreme Court Justice Ahn Chul-sang.

After the National Assembly’s vote against nominee Lee was announced, he asked the related institutions, including the legislative body and the government, to cooperate to resolve the “difficult” situation.

“Right now a difficult situation has occurred in our judiciary system,” Ahn said Friday. “The judiciary system will do its best in continuing its obligation and role according to the constitution and law.”

Even the temporary management system will be short-lived as the tenure of Ahn, along with his fellow Supreme Court Justice Min You-sook, expires on Jan. 1.

As a result, for the first time, the 14-member Supreme Court including the Minister of Court Administration will be down by three justices.

The process of replacing outgoing Supreme Court justices usually kicks off between October and November so that they can be approved by the National Assembly in December.

The absence of the Supreme Court Chief Justice is also likely to have an impact on the processing of the key cases that are pending a bench ruling.

Lee Gyun-ryong answer questions after the National Assembly rejected him as the next Supreme Court Chief Justice on Friday. [YONHAP]

In a Supreme Court ruling, the top chief justice plays an important role when the 12 justices are split right down the middle in a case. The Minister of Court Administration does not participate in case rulings.

Currently, there are five major cases that are waiting on the Supreme Court’s bench ruling, which could have a significant impact on society and lower court rulings.

One of the pending cases concerns recalculating the working days in a month. The ruling is likely to affect both the workers and the companies as it is related to calculating the compensation on work-related injury.

Another key issue that is waiting on the Supreme Court’s ruling is whether to acknowledge the spouse in a same-sex marriage as a dependent on the national health insurance as well as whether it is justified to penalize an organization that had exposed the identity of parents who had failed to pay the obligated child support.

With the rulings on such key issues to be delayed, it is expected to affect rulings made by the lower courts.

There have been two cases in which the Supreme Court has ruled cases even with the absences of the chief justice. However, these cases took place in the 1970s.

The vacancy of the top chief justice also affects the overall judiciary body as personnel planning, including promotion and transfers of 3,100 judges including the head of local courts, which is announced in February, is likely to be delayed.

The process also usually kicks off no later than December.

The delay in personnel management of judges is expected to worsen the backlogs of cases that have been one of the key controversies under Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su, who left on Sept. 24.

“If a new Supreme Court Chief Justice is not named, trials will not be opened,” Ahn said. “There shouldn’t be a gap in people’s rights to a trial.”

This is the first time in 30 years that there had been a vacancy for a Supreme Court Chief Justice since then Chief Justice Kim Deok-ju resigned in September 1993 on accusation over real estate speculation.

The position was empty for 13 days before a new chief justice took over.

However, this was the first time in 35 years that the National Assembly rejected a Supreme Court Chief Justice.

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s first nominee Lee Gyun-ryong is now the second nominee after Jeong Gi-seung, picked by the Roh Tae-woo administration in 1988, to be rejected by the legislators as the nation’s top judge.

The results of votes against Supreme Court Chief Justice nomninee Lee Gyun-ryong on Friday at the National Assembly. A total of 175 votes were against Lee while 118 were in favor. [YONHAP]

On Friday, among the 295 votes that were cast, only 118 approved Lee as Supreme Court Chief Justice while 175 voted against.

It could be speculated that all DP lawmakers had cast a vote against Yoon’s pick for chief justice as DP holds 168 seats. The Justice Party, which holds six parliamentary seats, is also considered to have voted against Lee.

Earlier both parties announced that it has decided to reject Lee in a party-line vote.

The president’s office and the People Power Party (PPP) has accused DP of voting down Yoon’s chief justice for political purposes.

“We regret that we are now facing the longest vacancy of a Supreme Court Chief Justice ever,” Lee Do-hoon, the president’s spokesman said Friday. “Those that would be affected the most, however, will be the people.”

The spokesman accused the DP of holding the people’s rights to trial as a hostage in a political fight.

The PPP’s leader Kim Gi-hyeon criticized the DP for causing issues by using its majority seats in the National Assembly.

Kim especially accused the DP of obstructing the justice system from moving forward in protecting the numerous legal issues that its party members face including leader Lee Jae-myung.

The National Assembly vote happened on the same day that Lee showed up for his first trial regarding development scandals — Daejang-dong and Wirye — as well as a Seongnam FC sponsorship.

This is his second ongoing court case where he is a defendant, as he faces charges of breach of duty, bribery and concealment of criminal proceeds.

Friday’s trial was originally scheduled for Sept. 15, but it was postponed because Lee went on a hunger strike before prosecutors filed for his arrest warrant.

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung take pictures with DP legislators at the National Assembly on Friday. It was his first visit since he was taken to the hospital on Sept. 18, the same day that the prosecutors' office filed an arrest warrant against the leader of the biggest political party. [YONHAP]

Another trial in which the DP leader is also a defendant is a case where he is indicted on a charge of making false statements during the presidential campaign.

The trial, which has been going on since March, is related to Lee denying knowing Kim Moon-ki, a Seongnam city-owned institution employee, who played a key role in the Daejang-dong development project, as well as Lee falsely accusing the Land Ministry of pressuring him to authorize an apartment project in another neighborhood within Seongnam, Baekhyeon-dong.

The DP leader not only is implicated in the profiteering scheme in Daejang-dong but also Baekhyeon-dong.

Lee could face additional court trials not only with the Baekhyeon-dong development but also the illegal wiring to North Korea through an underwear company.

Other figures in legal trouble include former DP leader Song Young-gil, who is yet to be indicted but is implicated in a bribery scandal during the party's convention in 2021, as well as Rep. Yoon Kwan-suk, who is currently detained for allegedly bribing his fellow party members.

The DP is accused of trying to slow down the court rulings until the legislative election in April next year.

If they control the National Assembly again by winning the election, they will be able to have more power to change the regulations in their favor.

A month after the DP lost the presidential election in March 2022 it used its majority seats to pass legislation that would reduce the areas in which the prosecutors’ office could investigate.

The process of the Yoon government’s new pick for chief justice nominee is expected to take several months as in October the National Assembly’s annual audit kicks in.

However, the Yoon government is raising concerns about the continuing vacancy as once the two Supreme Court justices retire in January, the next person in line to temporarily manage the top court is Kim Seon-soo, who is well known for his liberal beliefs.

Kim was once the chairman of Minbyun-Lawyers for Democratic Society.

Jang Ye-chan, a member of the PPP’s Supreme Council, accused the DP of trying to sit Justice Kim Seon-soo as the nation’s top justice until it wins the election next year.

“The people will not stand by and watch the DP hold the election by controlling the court with an extreme left-wing justice as its temporary chief,” Jang claimed on his Facebook on Friday.

Jang had accused the DP by controlling the court under Kim Myeong-su and had tried to protect DP leader Lee Jae-myung by delaying the trial and other trials on DP officials, where Jang claimed those involved were undoubtedly guilty.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]