Supreme Court Justice Noh Tae-ak (62, 16th Judicial Research and Training Institute) will not participate in the review of former Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung's public office election law violation case. Consequently, the case concerning Lee will be decided by a total of 12 justices excluding Justice Noh, including Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae.
According to the legal community on the 23rd, the Supreme Court granted Justice Noh's request to recuse himself from the case involving former leader Lee. Recusal occurs when a judge determines that they cannot fairly handle a case due to personal reasons or their relationship with a party involved in the case. It is reported that Justice Noh deemed it inappropriate to participate in the public office election law violation case because he also serves as the chairman of the National Election Commission.
The Supreme Court submitted Lee's case to the grand bench the previous day and held the first hearing. The grand bench handles cases that may require changes to existing precedents or have significant societal impact. The grand bench consists of the Chief Justice and 12 Supreme Court justices, totaling 13 members. With Justice Noh's recusal being granted, the case will now be reviewed by the Chief Justice and 11 justices, a total of 12.
Meanwhile, former leader Lee was acquitted of public office election law violation charges in the appeals court on the 26th of last month. The previous first-instance court had sentenced him to one year in prison with a two-year stay of execution last November, which was overturned.
Former leader Lee was indicted in September 2022 on charges of public office election law violations for allegedly making false statements during four broadcasts leading up to the 2021 election, in which he was the Democratic Party of Korea candidate. The statements that the prosecution identified as problematic included: ▲ claiming he did not know Kim Mun-ki (former head of the development division at the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation) during his tenure as Seongnam mayor ▲ asserting he did not play golf with Kim Mun-ki ▲ stating that the change in land use for the Korea Food Research Institute in Baekhyeon-dong, Seongnam, was made under pressure from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
Earlier, the first-instance court sentenced former leader Lee to one year in prison with a two-year stay of execution last November. The court determined that Lee's statements about not knowing Kim Mun-ki and claiming that the land use change in Baekhyeon-dong was due to pressure from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport were made with intentional falsehood.
However, the appeals court acquitted former leader Lee on the 26th of last month. The court maintained that Lee's remarks were not about any actions but rather expressions of 'awareness,' thus not subject to penalties under the public office election law.