Under WPK former General Secretary Kim Jong Il, the cabinet's power was elevated to equal status with Workers' Party of Korea and Korean People's Army Ground Force (KPA).

The Economist Intelligence Unit listed North Korea in last place as an authoritarian regime in its 2012 Democracy Index assessing 168 countries.

[5] North Korea's judiciary is headed by the Central Court, which consists of a Chief Justice (판사) and two People's Assessors (인민참심원); three judges may be present in some cases.

The security forces so often interfere with the actions of the judiciary that the conclusion of most cases is foregone; experts outside North Korea and numerous defectors confirm this to be a widespread problem.

[7] Freedom House states that, "North Korea does not have an independent judiciary and does not acknowledge individual rights...reports of arbitrary detentions, 'disappearances,' and extrajudicial killings are common; torture is widespread and severe".

In any case, North Korea is known for its poor human rights and regularly detains thousands of dissidents without trial or benefit of legal advice.

Although the WPK is (in theory) organizationally similar to communist parties, in practice it is far less institutionalized and informal politics plays a larger role than usual.

[10] In June 2010, Kim Jong Il appointed his brother-in-law, Chang Sung-taek, as vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission, in a move seen as propping up his own position.