South Korea’s major liberal Democratic Party of Korea has proposed a bill to suspend criminal trials for president-elects on Friday, the day after the Supreme Court sent a key case involving its leading presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung back to a lower court for a retrial in an unprecedentedly fast-tracked majority decision.
Democratic Party lawmakers, including Rep. Kim Yong-min, introduced a proposed amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act that would halt legal proceedings once a defendant is elected president.
The revision seeks to add a supplementary clause to Article 306 of the law to require courts to pause any trial involving a president-elect from the day of their election until the end of their term.
The party argued that ongoing trials could disrupt the president’s ability to perform their official duties and hurt the political neutrality of the judiciary. Continuing a trial during a presidency, it said, could spark controversy over what is constitutional and political neutrality.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court overturned an appeals court ruling that had cleared Lee of violating the Public Official Election Act during the 2022 presidential election, and returned the case to the appeals court, casting fresh doubt on his eligibility to run for president.
If the appeals court, Seoul High Court, rules against Lee, and if he is sentenced to a fine of 1 million won ($704) or more for violating election law, he would be barred from running for office for five years. However, if no ruling is made before June 3, the date of the presidential election, Lee would be able to run. If elected, he would gain immunity from prosecution while in office.
shinjh@heraldcorp.com
