Kim Jeong-won, the Secretary General of the Constitutional Court, stated that the provisional decision allowing for deliberation with the current six-member panel of constitutional judges applies to all cases. Previously, the Constitutional Court had accepted a provisional injunction related to the quorum for deliberation during the impeachment trial of Lee Jin-sook, the Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission. As a result, the enforcement of the provision in the Constitutional Court Act, which requires more than seven judges for deliberation, was temporarily suspended, allowing proceedings with the existing six-member panel.
During a full meeting of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee held today (the 17th), Kim explained, in response to a question from Ju Jin-woo, a member of the People Power Party, about the duration of the provisional decision’s effect, that the decision applies to all cases, not only the impeachment trial of Lee Jin-sook. He added that the enforcement suspension was put in place as an injunction related to the constitutional review of Article 23, Paragraph 1.
In response to a question from Jeong Cheong-rae, Chairperson of the Democratic Party’s legal committee, on whether the decision made during the Lee Jin-sook impeachment trial about a six-member panel was being used, Kim stated that the effect of Article 23, Paragraph 1 is currently suspended, and the panel sees no legal issues with beginning deliberations with six members.
Article 23, Paragraph 1 of the Constitutional Court Act states that “the panel shall deliberate cases with the attendance of at least seven judges.” However, by accepting the provisional injunction filed by the impeached Lee Jin-sook, the enforcement of this provision was temporarily suspended, and the deliberation of other cases pending in the Constitutional Court is now proceeding with a six-member panel.