Supreme Court to set up special panel for insurrection, foreign aggression cases

South Korea’s Supreme Court said Wednesday it will establish internal court rules to create a dedicated trial panel for nationally important cases, including charges of insurrection, foreign aggression and military rebellion.

According to the court, the rules will allow for the designation of a specialized panel focused exclusively on cases involving crimes of insurrection and crimes against the state under criminal law, as well as rebellion charges under military criminal law. The court said the move reflects the national importance of such cases and the need for swift adjudication.

These “nationally important cases” will continue to be distributed randomly to courts to ensure fairness, but the court that receives the case will be designated a “special tribunal.”

When a court is designated as a special tribunal, its existing cases will, in principle, be reassigned to other courts. For related cases, the Supreme Court said assignments will be coordinated through consultations with the relevant courts. The dedicated panel will not be assigned new, unrelated cases during that period.

The top court plans to implement the rules after a notice period and before appeals proceedings in insurrection cases formally begin.

The decision comes amid controversy surrounding efforts by the ruling Democratic Party to pass legislation creating a special tribunal for insurrection cases -- a proposal that has drawn criticism from judicial and legal circles as an infringement on the judiciary’s independence.

According to the Supreme Court, concerns over the bill were raised during a nationwide meeting of chief judges on Dec. 5 and at a national conference of judges' representatives on Dec. 8.

Participants at a public hearing on judicial reform held starting Dec. 9 also urged the judiciary to take proactive steps to ensure the swift handling of such cases before legislation was enacted.

The legislation initially pursued by the Democratic Party would allow members outside the judiciary -- including officials from the Justice Ministry or the Constitutional Court -- to serve on a committee recommending judges for the special tribunal handling insurrection cases.

After the proposal sparked constitutional concerns, the party revised the bill to require that judge recommendations come from within the court system.

Even after the revision, the judiciary has continued to express reservations about the tribunal’s composition and the judge-selection mechanism.

The Supreme Court said the newly established internal court rules would allow insurrection cases to proceed swiftly and fairly without procedural delays, such as requests for constitutional reviews of the law, while preserving long-standing principles governing judicial administration, including the random and non-arbitrary assignment of cases.

“The rule is there to alleviate concerns that the people and the National Assembly have about the swift and fair proceedings of trials that have national importance,” the Court Administrative Office said in a statement.