No Ordinary Trial: Dedicated Insurrection Panel — Will It Launch a Speed Trial Drive?

With the special panel for insurrection and foreign aggression cases, which will hear former president Yoon Suk Yeol’s insurrection case, set to officially begin work on the 23rd, the legal community is watching closely. As this panel, created under a special act, sheds all ordinary cases and focuses solely on insurrection matters, many expect a full-fledged “speed trial” push for these unprecedented, nationally significant cases.
According to legal sources on the 18th, the dedicated panels for insurrection, foreign aggression, and rebellion cases at the Seoul Central District Court and the Seoul High Court will officially start work on the 23rd, in line with the regular judicial personnel reshuffle. If the first-instance verdict in former president Yoon’s insurrection case, scheduled for the 19th, is appealed, the appeal is highly likely to be assigned to the Seoul High Court’s special panel. The panel is also expected to take over Yoon’s already-appealed case on obstruction of arrest, as well as the insurrection major-duty cases involving former prime minister Han Duck-soo and former interior and safety minister Lee Sang-min.
The special panel was established under the Act on Special Cases Concerning Criminal Procedure for Crimes of Insurrection, Foreign Aggression, and Rebellion, which took effect last month. The aim is to handle major cases related to the three core charges arising from the December 3 Martial Law Incident swiftly and fairly. The Seoul High Court randomly selected, from 13 of its 16 criminal divisions that had no grounds for disqualification, Criminal Division 1 and Criminal Division 12 as the dedicated panels. The Seoul Central District Court likewise drew lots among candidate divisions to choose two panels, and newly appointed two warrant-issuing judges to handle related warrant matters.
The role of the Seoul High Court’s appellate panels is particularly significant. Currently, the appeal cases pending there include Yoon’s obstruction of arrest case (five-year prison term at first instance), Han’s case (23-year sentence), and Lee’s case (seven-year sentence. With the launch of the special panels, these cases are expected to be divided between the two divisions in the order they were filed. However, there is room to adjust the allocation sequence in light of each case’s nature and complexity. If the main insurrection case against Yoon later reaches the appellate stage, some expect it could be consolidated with related co-defendant cases, though separate trials may be unavoidable if the issues prove too extensive.
The Act on Special Cases requires that the designated cases be handled as swiftly as possible, with priority over other trials. Under the Special Prosecutor Act, when the Special Counsel for Insurrection brings a case, the appellate court must deliver its judgment within three months of the first-instance verdict. As a result, all ordinary criminal cases currently pending before the special panels will be reassigned in full to other divisions. This measure is intended to allow the panels to focus virtually exclusively on insurrection and foreign aggression cases.
Whether such a speed drive is realistically achievable remains uncertain. The appeal hearing deadline for Yoon’s obstruction of arrest case is tight, expiring on April 16, and the deadlines for Han’s case (April 21) and Lee’s case (May 12) are similarly close. Observers also note that if additional evidence is requested on appeal or new legal issues arise, it will be difficult to complete the hearings in a short period. On top of this, Yoon’s legal team has signaled that it will challenge the constitutionality of the special panel’s creation, hinting at a request for an adjudication on the constitutionality of a law or a constitutional complaint, which is expected to become another variable in the proceedings.
scottchoi15@fnnews.com Choi Eun-sol Reporter