The national judges' representative conference will be held on the 26th. This meeting was convened following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the ruling on the election law violation case involving Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate, acknowledging it as guilty. Attention is focused on whether the representatives will take a position on the candidate's election law trial.
The national judges' representative conference will hold an emergency meeting at the Judicial Research and Training Institute in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, at 10 a.m. on the same day. The judges' representative conference is an organization where judges from various courts discuss judicial administration and make recommendations to the Supreme Court Chief Justice. According to regulations, the meeting was convened after one-fifth of the members requested its convening.
There are currently two official agenda items under consideration. One is to confirm that 'judicial independence is an absolutely guaranteed value in a democratic nation and to express the commitment to strive to uphold the fairness of trials and the democratic accountability of the judiciary on which that foundation rests.'
The other is to state that 'we seriously recognize that the trust in the judiciary, which underpins judicial independence, has been shaken, and we are deeply concerned about the potential infringement on judicial independence due to various demands for accountability based on individual trials and changes to the system.'
Previously, the 'expression of regret regarding the Supreme Court's ruling and its procedures concerning candidate Lee Jae-myung' proposed by some judges did not meet the criteria for consideration and consequently was not included on the agenda. However, since the meeting was called due to the Supreme Court ruling on Lee Jae-myung's election law case, there is a possibility that discussions will take place on-site. Proposing additional agenda items is possible if consent is obtained from at least 10 individuals, including the proposer.
Meanwhile, attention is also on whether a vote will be held on the agenda items and whether the judges will express their positions during the meeting. A majority of the 126 judges must be present to hold the meeting. Additionally, to officially announce a position on the agenda items, a majority must approve the agenda through a vote. At least 64 judges must attend both online and offline and support the agenda items in order to express their positions.