Constitutional Court Halts Appointment Procedures for Lee Wan-kyu and Ham Sang-hoon 🛑

The Constitutional Court has suspended the appointment procedures for Lee Wan-kyu and Ham Sang-hoon as Constitutional Court Justices. This decision comes as a result of a unanimous ruling by the court to grant an injunction filed by attorney Kim Jeong-hwan.

Key Points:

• Injunction Granted: The Constitutional Court unanimously granted the injunction, halting the appointment procedures.
• Grounds for Suspension: The court cited potential violations of constitutional rights and concerns over the legitimacy of decisions made by the court if the appointments were to proceed improperly.
• Impact: With the retirement of Justices Moon Hyung-bae and Lee Mi-sun, the court will operate with only seven justices for the time being.

Detailed Summary

On April 16, the Constitutional Court (헌법재판소) ruled in favor of an injunction filed by attorney Kim Jeong-hwan from the law firm Dodam, effectively halting the appointment of Lee Wan-kyu, head of the Ministry of Government Legislation, and Ham Sang-hoon, senior judge at the Seoul High Court, as Constitutional Court Justices. This decision was reached unanimously by all justices.

The injunction suspends the effect of the nomination made by Acting President Han Duck-soo on April 8. The suspension will remain in effect until the Constitutional Court reaches a decision on the constitutional complaint filed by Kim Jeong-hwan, which challenges the constitutionality of exercising the power to appoint justices.

The court’s decision prevents Acting President Han from proceeding with any further appointment procedures, including submitting requests for personnel hearings, requesting the transmission of reports on the hearings, and ultimately appointing the justices.

The Constitutional Court balanced the potential harm of granting the injunction versus the harm of denying it, concluding that even if the constitutional complaint is ultimately dismissed, it was necessary to suspend the nomination to prevent potential violations of constitutional rights and chaos within the court’s operations.

The court stated, “If the injunction is denied and the nominee is appointed, the right to a fair trial for all parties involved in ongoing constitutional court cases could be violated.” They also noted that if the injunction were denied and the constitutional complaint later upheld, the legitimacy of decisions made by the justices could be called into question, leading to “extreme confusion” in the court’s functions.

The court also dismissed the argument from Acting President Han’s side that the case should be dismissed because only candidates were announced, not officially nominated or appointed.

As a result of this decision, the Constitutional Court will operate with only seven justices for the time being, following the retirement of Justices Moon Hyung-bae and Lee Mi-sun on April 18. This situation will persist until the court makes a final decision on the constitutional complaint, or until a new president is inaugurated and nominates new candidates.

Following Acting President Han’s nomination of new justices on April 8, numerous constitutional complaints and injunctions were filed, arguing that it was unconstitutional for an acting president to exercise the president’s unique power of nomination.

The Constitutional Court received Kim Jeong-hwan’s case on April 9, and after a random electronic draw, Justice Ma Eun-hyuk was selected as the presiding justice. The case was formally referred for review on April 11, and the court deliberated on the matter for two consecutive days.

한덕수 (Han Duck-soo) : Former Prime Minister of South Korea, currently acting as President.

헌법재판소 (Heonbeopjaepanso) : The Constitutional Court of South Korea.