Over 100 constitutional scholars gathered in a group yesterday (31st) pointed out that Acting President Choi Sang-mok’s selective appointment of only some of the constitutional judges elected by the National Assembly is unconstitutional.
The “Constitutional Scholars’ Meeting for the Restoration of Constitutional Government” released a statement asserting that the judges elected by the National Assembly are not merely ‘recommended’ but ‘elected,’ and that appointing them is a constitutional duty of the President.
They emphasized that the President’s selective non-appointment of some judges elected by the National Assembly, despite holding only formal appointing authority, is effectively an exercise of substantial appointing power, which also violates the Constitution.
Article 111 of the Constitution, which ensures the principle of separation of powers, states that out of the nine constitutional judges, three are to be elected by the National Assembly and three are to be nominated by the Chief Justice. The selective appointment by the Acting President was further explained to be against this principle of separation of powers.