The Democratic Party of Korea has announced its goal to pass a judicial reform bill, which includes increasing the number of Supreme Court justices, at a plenary session of the National Assembly before the upcoming Chuseok holiday (October 6). The party's Special Committee on Judicial Reform (hereinafter referred to as the Judicial Reform Committee) has officially expressed its determination to push for the bill, stating its intention to enhance the transparency and democratic control of the judicial system.

At the launch ceremony of the Judicial Reform Committee held at the National Assembly on the 12th, Committee Chairperson Baek Hye-ryun stated, "We will enhance the transparency of the judicial system and strengthen democratic control by increasing the number of Supreme Court justices and ensuring the objectivity and independence of the judicial evaluation system." The five reform tasks the committee is pursuing are: ▲ increasing the number of Supreme Court justices (from 14 to 30) ▲ improving the method of recommending Supreme Court justices ▲ improving the judicial evaluation system ▲ expanding the scope of publicly available lower court rulings ▲ introducing a preliminary review system for search and seizure warrants.

Lee Geon-tae, the committee's chief secretary, explained the scale of the increase in Supreme Court justices, saying, "We will finalize the number after a public hearing, but committee members generally agree on expanding the number of justices to 30." Regarding the method of recommending justices, he said, "Currently, recommendations are made by people the Chief Justice wants, which does not guarantee diversity. We will consider improvements to reflect the public's demands."

The Democratic Party cited the backlog of cases at the Supreme Court as the background for their judicial reform push. Party leader Jeong Cheong-rae emphasized the justification for increasing the number of justices, saying, "Justices are suffering from overwork due to the lack of numbers, and there is public skepticism about whether they are properly reviewing records in third-instance trials." He also criticized, "The judicial evaluation system is merely an internal regulation of the Supreme Court, so proper evaluations are not taking place."

Regarding the introduction of a preliminary review system for search and seizure warrants, he added, "This is not a difficult task, as even the courts have argued for its necessity." The preliminary review system for search and seizure warrants refers to a procedure that gives the person being searched and seized an opportunity to state their opinion when a warrant is requested. Representative Jeong urged the committee members, "There is a time and a golden time for reform. We must not hesitate or be swayed by resistance."

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party dismissed some opposition parties' claims that the increase in Supreme Court justices is related to President Lee Jae-myung's ongoing investigations and trials. Representative Lee Geon-tae countered, "The Supreme Court also recognized the severe backlog of cases. This is a problem that was also sought to be resolved through the introduction of a high appeals court during the Park Geun-hye administration." The Democratic Party plans to gather public opinion on judicial reform through an expert public hearing on August 19 and a public listening session on August 27.

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