Suspicion of’intervention in the late trial’

Senior Judge Im Seong-geun. [연합뉴스]

The ruling party announced its policy to pursue impeachment proceedings against Judge Im Seong-geun (57th, 17th Judicial Research and Training Institute). Deputy Judge Lim is currently being tried because he was involved in allegations of abuse of judicial administration power. If the National Assembly enters the proceedings for impeachment against Judge Lim, it is the third time in the history of the constitution. The procedure for impeachment proceedings against judges of front-line courts who are not Supreme Court Justices or Chief Justices is the first in the history of constitution. Prior to that, an impeachment lawsuit against Supreme Court Justice Shin Young-cheol in 2009 and Supreme Court Justice Yoo Tae-heung in 1985 was proposed. However, each was automatically abolished and rejected, which did not lead to an actual impeachment prosecution.

However, it is unclear whether the impeachment proceeding against Judge Lim could actually lead to a decision through a judgment at the Constitutional Court. Judges are reappointed every 10 years by applying for reappointment. Deputy Judge Lim did not apply for re-appointment at this time. On February 28th, he will quit his job as a judge due to the expiration of his term rather than’resignation’ or’retirement’.

A judge who works for the Supreme Court said, “When the impeachment prosecution is prosecuted, dismissal or resignation is not allowed as long as the term of office remains, but the impeachment prosecution does not correspond to the end of the term, so I do not know what the impeachment prosecution means.” .

Another court official also predicted, “Even if the Constitutional Court holds a hearing for judgment, it may be difficult to make a decision until the end of February, which is the term of the Chief Justice.” The impeachment prosecution against former President Park Geun-hye was proposed by the National Assembly on December 3, 2016, and was passed on the 9th, and was decided at the constitution on March 10 of the following year.

Deputy Judge Lim is under an appeal trial for alleged involvement in a trial involving former President Park when he served as the Chief Justice of the Seoul Central District Court in 2015. At that time, Tatsuya Kato, who was accused of defaming former President Park’s honor, intervened in the trial of the former head of the Sankei Shimbun Seoul Bureau, and was accused of interfering with the exercise of ex officio abuse rights.

The first trial court in charge of the case found that it was impossible to ask Judge Lim for abuse of authority under the criminal law and found it innocent. There is no ex officio that a judge can intervene in other judges’ trials in the first place, and the logic is how to abuse it.

However, the court of the first trial pointed out that “interfering, such as inducing the contents or conclusions of the trial in a specific case, is an act of involvement in the trial, which infringes on the independence of the judges.

Reporter Lee Sujeong [email protected]