Nominate new judges
The Constitutional Court is an important part of the Korean judicial system. It is independent of ordinary courts and is mainly responsible for the constitutional review of laws, impeachment trial, dissolution review of unconstitutional political parties, and trial of disputes over the authority of state organs. The most famous case it tried was that of former President park geun-hye. On March 10 this year, the court announced its support for impeaching park geun-hye.
The Constitutional Court consists of nine judges. Although all judges must be appointed by the President, the right to nominate new judges has a certain distribution, that is, three of them must be nominated by the President, three by the National Assembly and three by the Supreme Court justices. The President of the Constitutional Court is nominated by the President from among the current judges, but must be voted by more than half of the seats in the National Assembly.
At present, due to the retirement of President Park Hanche and Judge Li Zhenmei in June and March this year respectively, the statutory system of nine judges is still vacant. Although the President of the Grand Court nominated Judge Zhenmei Li to replace Judge Li Xian 'ai, who resigned shortly, and the former President Park Han-cheol was nominated by the President, so far, the Constitutional Court still maintains eight vacancies.
On August 8th, South Korean President Moon Jae in nominated Li Youjing, a former female prosecutor, as the candidate for the new judge of the Constitutional Court. However, due to the great differences between the ruling and opposition parties on this nominee, it is still unknown whether it can be approved by the congressional personnel hearing.
In addition, in May of 19, Moon Jae in nominated acting President Kim as the presidential candidate, but due to the differences between the ruling and opposition parties, it has not been approved by the National Assembly, so that the "top leader" of the Constitutional Court is also vacant.
Obstruction by the opposition party
In order to complete the nine judges of the Constitutional Court, Moon Jae in nominated former prosecutor Li Youjing as the new judge of the Constitutional Court on August 8. However, once Li Jingjing's nomination was announced, it was immediately unanimously opposed by the opposition camp. The latter thinks that Li Jingjing has obvious political inclination and prejudice. If he is appointed as a judge of the Constitutional Court, it is likely to affect the judicial justice of the Constitutional Court in hearing unconstitutional cases in the future.
Under the negotiation between Cheongwadae and the ruling party, the Legal and Judicial Committee of the Korean National Assembly held a personnel hearing in Li Youjing on August 28th. However, at the hearing, all opposition party members attending the meeting were in full swing, and some "stains" of Li Jingjing were "bombarded".
In addition to clinging to their own political prejudices, opposition lawmakers also raised "doubts" such as political contributions, abnormal profits from holding stocks, tax evasion and hiding overseas accounts. Therefore, after the hearing, the prospect of Li Jingjing's nomination for a new judge being approved by Congress is not optimistic.
Coincidentally, Moon Jae in's nomination of acting President Kim Er-soo as President of the Constitutional Court on May 19 this year was also shelved because of the struggle between the ruling and opposition parties. Although nearly three months have passed, the nomination has been delayed.
According to the analysis of Korean judicial circles, even if the new judge nominated by President Moon Jae in is not approved by the personnel hearing of the National Assembly, the President can use his unique personnel appointment power to bypass the restrictions of the opposition camp in the National Assembly and forcibly appoint him. However, the appointment of the President of the Constitutional Court on Kim Jules must go beyond the threshold of the National Assembly. Because according to the second item of Article 12 of the Constitutional Court Law, the President's appointment of the President of the Constitutional Court must be approved by more than half of the seats in the National Assembly. At present, among the 300 seats in the South Korean National Assembly, the ruling party and the Democratic Party only hold 120 seats. If President Moon Jae in wants to win the nomination of President Kinjul, he must seek the cooperation of the opposition.
Judicial dissatisfaction
The "regularization" and nomination of the current acting president of the Constitutional Court, Kim Jong-il, reflect that the internal operation of the Moon Jae in government is not smooth. The opposition party deliberately curbed the president's right to appoint public officials, which was strongly criticized by relevant people in the Korean judicial circles.
Professor Lee Jong-soo of Yonsei University Law School in South Korea commented that although the opposition camp verbally shouted the slogan of cooperation, any appointment of the new government was blocked by the opposition party. "The President of the Constitutional Court has been unable to be appointed for a long time and can only temporarily act as the president. However, only by maintaining the mechanism of nine judges and the official president stipulated by law can we ensure that the Constitutional Court will not be interfered by factors other than justice when hearing bills closely related to national life. If the Constitutional Court is vacant for a long time, Congress will have an unshirkable responsibility. "
Although the opposition party has great objections to Moon Jae in's nomination of Li Youjing, the Korean judiciary believes that the nomination of a female former prosecutor by the President to form a nine-member judge system of the Constitutional Court will help the Constitutional Court fully reflect the diversity of the national class in future trials.
At present, the session of South Korea's provisional parliament is still going on, and how the ruling and opposition parties oppose the appointment of Kim Jul and Li Jingjing will become the focus of the current Korean people's attention.