A bill amending the Criminal Procedure Act to completely suspend existing criminal trial procedures if elected president passed the National Assembly's Judicial Committee on the 7th. Notably, in addition to the amendment initially proposed by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Yong-min, a provision was included stating that trials must be halted 'from the moment of registering as a presidential candidate.' If the law takes effect, five trials, including the public election law violation case against Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate, will be postponed until after the end of the term.
The Judicial Committee held a general meeting that afternoon and voted on the bill, led by the Democratic Party of Korea. The People Power Party protested against the agenda from the morning's subcommittee meeting and boycotted the vote, leaving the meeting in a group.
The amendment established a new paragraph 6 in Article 306 of the current Criminal Procedure Act, stating that 'if the defendant is elected president, the court must suspend the trial procedures from the day of election until the end of the term.' It was revised to include a provision that forces the suspension of trial procedures from the moment of registering as a presidential candidate until the end of ballot counting. However, those charged with treason or foreign exchange crimes were excluded from the suspension of trial procedures.
Additionally, the provision in the annex states ▲The law will come into effect from the day it is announced ▲It will also apply to the sitting president at the time of implementation. If this candidate is elected president, it is a measure to suspend all criminal trials during the term. The first trial of the retrial regarding this candidate's election law violation case, which was postponed to the 18th of next month by the Seoul High Court, may not be held.
The Democratic Party of Korea hastily passed the amendment to prevent the 'Article 84 controversy' following the presidential election. Article 84 of the Constitution specifies the sitting president's immunity from prosecution. However, opinions within academia and the legal community are divided on whether this provision applies to existing trials. This means that even if this candidate becomes president, they could face five trials, including for violations of the election law, perjury, and Daejang-dong issues. The Democratic Party of Korea, which has heightened prospects for governance, is trying to eliminate such controversies by changing the law.
Park Beom-gye, the chair of the subcommittee for the bill review, said, 'We amended the regulation to include that the trial procedures must be suspended from the moment the defendant registers as a presidential election candidate to ensure that fair elections can be conducted.'