On the 23rd, Part 32 of the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Agreement (President Judge Yoon Jong-seop) sentenced four members including Lee Min-geol, former chief of the Court Administration Department, to obstruct the exercise of ex officio abuse rights. Each of the standing members of the committee was sentenced to three years of probation in one year and six months of imprisonment. At the same time, the indicted chief judge Bang Chang-hyun and former Seoul High Court chief Shim Sang-cheol were each sentenced to innocence.
Regarding whether the court ordered by the court administration can be viewed as an ex officio abuse, the court said, “The Chief Justice and the court administration can criticize the core affairs, but if the intellectual power is abused, they have made it virtually obligatory.” “I think that excessive abuse is also a crime of ex officio abuse,” he said.
He also stressed, “It is contrary to the rule of law to order a review that is directly contrary to the independence of the trial or to deliver recommendations on specific cases.” Regarding the allegations of having to deliver the review opinion of the administrative agency to the court in charge of the case related to the former Unified Progressive Party, he said, “It was made to cooperate with the conclusions made by a third party outside the legitimate scope of the authority to point out errors.” “I said. The court admitted that there was a conspiracy of some of the allegations by former Supreme Court chief Yang and others. The judge revealed the reason for the sentence and said, “In view of the administrative organization, the role of former chief executive officer Lee is bound to be limited, and the person who implemented the measure was former deputy chief of the court administration department, Lim Jong-heon.” Then, “Former Justice Park Byung-dae and former Deputy Chief Lim, led the (case), and this former standing committee member played a role under the work structure,” he clarified the responsibility of the superior.
However, the fact that the first guilty conviction came from Judge Yun, who was pointed out that the code person was a code person in a trial related to abuse of the judicial administration authority, is expected to remain controversial in the future. Previously, Deputy Chief Judge Park Nam-cheon, who was hearing the trial of the former Supreme Court, was transferred even though he worked in the Seoul Central District Court for three years. After the sentence, the prosecution said, “I will do my best to ensure that a judgment corresponding to the crime and responsibility can be sentenced for crimes that have undermined public trust in the judiciary.”
[정희영 기자 / 홍혜진 기자]
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