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Constitutional Court candidates say bench should be filled before Yoon impeachment ruling

Published: 18 Dec. 2024, 18:17 Updated: 18 Dec. 2024, 18:31

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Police guard the entrance to the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Dec. 18. [NEWS1]

All three judges whose nominations for the Constitutional Court are under consideration by the National Assembly have told lawmakers that the court's bench should be filled before it rules on President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, a lawmaker said Wednesday.

In their written statements to the parliamentary committee that oversees Constitutional Court nominations, the three candidates were also unanimous in their opinion that Acting President Han Duck-soo has the right to appoint nominees selected by the National Assembly, according to Democratic Party (DP) Rep. Kim Han-kyu, who serves on the committee.

Former Seoul High Court Judge Jo Han-chang, whose candidacy is backed by the conservative People Power Party (PPP), referred to Article 111 of the Constitution to back his view that the acting president has the power to appoint the court’s justices.

“I believe the relevant article in the Constitution grants the president or the acting president the right to appoint an individual nominated by the National Assembly to the Constitutional Court,” Jo wrote in his statement to the committee.

Seoul Western District Court Judge Ma Eun-hyeok, who has been recommended by the DP, also said that the Constitution “should be interpreted as allowing the acting president to appoint a person who has undergone the proper nomination procedure.”

The other DP-backed candidate, Seoul Western District Court Chief Justice Jeong Gye-son, added that the “effective power of appointment” regarding the three seats currently empty on the court’s bench “lies with the National Assembly.”

The Constitutional Court is typically composed of nine justices — three recommended by the president, three by the chief justice of the Supreme Court and three by the National Assembly.

However, the three seats reserved for the National Assembly’s nominees have been vacant since Oct. 17, when the terms of the previous incumbents expired amid legislative gridlock.

According to the Constitutional Court Act, at least seven justices must participate in reviewing an impeachment motion, and at least six must approve it for the impeachment to be upheld, though the court has approved an injunction allowing it to hold trials with just the current six members.

The Constitutional Court, which now has under 180 days to decide Yoon’s impeachment, has recently said that both the review and trial can proceed with its current bench.

However, all six justices would still need to agree on Yoon’s impeachment to remove him from office if the acting president declines to appoint additional members to the bench.

Profiles of Constitutional Court justices and current candidates [NAM JUNG-HYUN]

PPP floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, a close Yoon ally, has argued that Han should not appoint justices to the court because Yoon still technically occupied the presidency. He argued the acting president should instead wait until the court either overturns or upholds Yoon’s impeachment.

However, Jeong warned that a vacancy “that arises because the president deliberately declines to exercise the power of appointment could be regarded as unconstitutional” because it could bring the court's objectivity into question.

Members of the DP have accused the PPP of opposing the appointment of more justices to the Constitutional Court because a unanimous decision in favor of impeachment by the current six justices is harder to achieve than a majority opinion supported by six or more members of a full bench.

While both Ma and Jo agreed that the Constitutional Court could proceed with Yoon’s impeachment trial under the current injunction, they did not express an opinion regarding whether the court could issue a ruling in the case.

While wrangling by the major parties over nominations continues, the Constitutional Court on Wednesday ordered Yoon to submit records of the night he declared martial law for its pretrial deliberations by Dec. 24.

According to court spokesperson Lee Jin, the court told Yoon to submit an outline of his legal defense, a list of evidence, minutes from the Dec. 3 and Dec. 4 Cabinet meetings and his decree naming Lt. Gen. Park An-su as chief of the martial law command.

The spokesperson also said Wednesday that neither Yoon nor the presidential office had confirmed their receipt of the impeachment documents from the National Assembly that the court had forwarded.

By law, Yoon has a week after being served the documents to submit his response to the court.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]