Criticism has arisen within the legal field concerning judicial changes promoted by President Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party of Korea, such as increasing the number of judges, implementing a constitutional review trial system, and limiting appeals (including appeals and retrials). Legal professionals state, "It is inconsistent to assert that reducing broad appeals will result in fewer trials while at the same time increasing the number of judges and enabling a de facto four-tier trial system." They believe the ruling party is pushing for "disorganized reforms" to influence Chief Justice Jo Hee-de, whose decision to send President Lee's election law case back for a new trial has caused political controversy.
◇Decrease in Supreme Court Case Backlog, But Calls for Additional Justices?
The Democratic Party is pushing forward a bill that would raise the number of justices from 14 to 26, with the goal of speeding up trials and decreasing the volume of cases waiting in the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court states, “The immediate need is to enhance trials at the first and second levels by increasing the number of regular judges, not justices.” Statistics show that cases that have been pending for years are more heavily backed up in lower courts compared to the Supreme Court.
As per the documents provided by the National Court Administration to the office of Rep. Song Seok-jun from the People Power Party on the 2nd, the count of unresolved civil and criminal cases at the Supreme Court has notably dropped since Chief Justice Jo assumed his role in December 2023. In terms of criminal cases that have been pending for more than two years, the number of defendants decreased from 175 in 2023 to 149 in the previous year (a 15% reduction) and further declined to 139 in the first half of this year. On the other hand, the number of first-instance defendants rose from 4,583 in 2023 to 4,526 in the first half of this year, following a minor drop to 4,223 in the previous year. The number of appellate defendants stayed fairly consistent, with 442 in 2023, 358 in the previous year, and 376 in the first half of this year.
Long-standing civil cases showed a comparable pattern. Removing instances where one plaintiff initiated multiple overlapping lawsuits, the number of pending cases at the Supreme Court dropped from 355 in 2023 to 242 last year and further to 195 in the first half of this year. Meanwhile, initial trial cases grew from 7,918 to 8,245 over the same time frame, and appeals cases went up from 3,146 to 3,323. A senior judge at a district court stated, “If the number of justices is increased, local judges might transfer to the Supreme Court, making delays in initial and second-instance trials worse.”
The National Court Administration estimates that adding 12 justices would necessitate at least 106 more research judges—an amount comparable to a whole large district court having over 100 judges. Legal experts claim, "To restrict appeals, lower courts need to carry out comprehensive trials, yet expanding the number of justices goes against this objective." Rep. Song mentioned, "Instead of disrupting the effective Supreme Court, judicial policy should focus on enhancing trials at the first and second levels."
◇ 'Introduction of a Trial Constitutional Appeal May Result in Misuse of the Appeal Process'
The suggested constitutional appeal process, which would enable final decisions from the Supreme Court to be contested before the Constitutional Court, is anticipated to lead to more appeals and higher societal expenses. Legal professionals caution that this might result in an unofficial four-tier judicial system, where the 30,000–40,000 civil and criminal cases handled annually by the Supreme Court could be transferred to the Constitutional Court. A senior judge from the high court stated, “If this system is implemented, everyone will seek a fourth level of review, significantly raising the time and cost of legal proceedings. This goes against the objective of restricting appeals and ensuring effective trials at lower courts.” Opponents also claim the system breaches the Constitution, which states that judicial authority belongs to the courts, with the Supreme Court being the ultimate judicial institution.
A former judge stated, "Increasing the number of justices or implementing a constitutional trial appeal necessitates profound philosophical reflection on the Supreme Court's function. The ruling party's politically driven reforms are leading to contradictions."
Amid these developments, President Lee recently directed Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho to develop strategies to limit prosecutorial appeals, with the goal of concluding cases in lower courts. Nevertheless, this instruction contradicts the ongoing efforts to establish a constitutional appeal system for trials.
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