Police drop 'law distortion' case against top judges citing non-retroactivity

Seoul police have decided not to forward a case against Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and Justice Park Young-jae, who were accused of "law distortion" in relation to the Supreme Court's decision to send back a case involving President Lee Jae-myung for retrial. The police cited the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal law as the reason for their decision.

The complaint, filed in May of last year by lawyer Lee Byung-chul, alleged that the justices intentionally distorted the criminal procedure law. The accuser claimed it was physically impossible for the justices to have reviewed the 70,000-page case record in just nine days, suggesting they failed to fulfill their legal duty to examine the case. This investigation was notably the first of its kind into the alleged crime of "law distortion."

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Applying the law distortion statute, which took effect on March 12th of last year, to the Supreme Court's decision on May 1st of the previous year would violate the principle of non-retroactivity.

However, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Anti-Corruption Investigation Unit, in their decision notice dated March 2nd, stated that applying the "law distortion" statute, which took effect on March 12th of last year, to the Supreme Court's decision on May 1st of the previous year would violate the principle of non-retroactivity. For the alternative charge of dereliction of duty, the police concluded that it was difficult to establish guilt solely based on the claim that the execution of duties, regardless of its form, was deemed unlawful.

Despite the police's decision, the complainant, Lee Byung-chul, announced his intention to file a separate complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) after supplementing the evidence. Police Commissioner Park Jeong-bo noted that out of 175 "law distortion" cases received by the Seoul agency, 75 have been closed, with none so far being forwarded for prosecution.

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We plan to file a separate complaint with the CIO after supplementing the evidence.