Anchor: As the ruling camp pushes to establish a division to handle martial law-related cases, the Supreme Court appears to be eyeing a similar possibility. The highest court has adopted a new fast-track procedure for insurrection, foreign aggression and mutiny trials—which will likely apply to cases related to the December 3 martial law declaration.
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: The Supreme Court has adopted a new fast-track procedure for trials involving charges of insurrection, inducement of foreign aggression and mutiny, taking into account the national importance of such trials and the need for efficiency. 

The top court's Thursday decision follows debates over the constitutionality of a Democratic Party-led(DP) bill aimed at creating a division related to the martial law declaration, which the ruling camp has resolved to pass this month.

The new regulations will enable the benches randomly assigned the trials in question to expedite those trials and receive high-priority support.

The National Court Administration said it had decided to adopt the new procedural code during a meeting of top justices earlier that day. The code will take effect after a public notice period of at least ten days.

An official said the new policies are an attempt to ease public and parliamentary concerns about the pace and fairness of "nationally important" trials.

The administration believes the new system will guarantee fair and speedy trials while preserving the principle of nondiscretionary case assignment and avoiding Constitution-related holdups.

During previous meetings of court chiefs and judges' representatives, attendees have called on the judiciary to guarantee expedient trials and expressed concern about the constitutionality of the DP-led proposal.

The new system will likely first apply to martial law-related appeals before the Seoul High Court.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.