Acting President and Prime Minister Han Deok-soo has become a focal point of political debate regarding the required number of votes for his impeachment. Amidst the heated discussions, a research institution under the Constitutional Court has interpreted that “the quorum for impeachment should vary depending on the timing of the illegal act that serves as grounds for impeachment.”
According to the ‘Annotated Constitutional Court Act’ published by the Constitutional Research Institute in 2015, “The initiation and voting quorum for the impeachment of an acting official should be based on the office being acted upon.”
Additionally, it notes that “an acting official can also be subject to impeachment for illegal acts committed in the execution of their original duties.”
In other words, if an illegal act is committed during the acting president’s duties, a quorum of 200 votes is required for impeachment. For illegal acts during the execution of the prime minister’s duties, 151 votes in favor would suffice.
The Constitutional Court clarified that “the opinions in the Constitutional Research Institute’s annotations are those of the authors and do not represent the official stance of the court.”
Reporter: Im Kwang-bin ([email protected])
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