GNP Opposes Court Judge Candidate

On September 8, as the National Assembly presented the appointment bill on Jeon Hyo-sook, the nominee for the president of the Constitutional Court, the opposing Grand National Party lawmakers abstained by raising due process issues.

It is unprecedented that the National Assembly’s opposition has led the appointment consent on the president of the Constitutional Court to drag on since the establishment of the court in 1988.

Grand National Party lawmaker Ju Seong-yeong argued in the main session, “Jeon was nominated without a membership in the Constitutional Court as judge, which is similar to recognizing the victory of a legally ineligible candidate for election. The hearing in the National Assembly was null and void from the beginning.”

The GNP lawmakers unanimously walked out of the plenary session shortly before the vote on her appointment after dealing with general bills.

Before then, the ruling and opposition lawmakers are sharply divided over the due process issues on her nomination over four days.

In the personnel hearing, the opposition parties asserted, “Jeon can not be nominated for the president of the Constitutional Court because she is legally private citizen after resignation from the Court. Separate hearings in the Legislation-Judiciary committee are indispensable for this issue.” In return, the Central Personnel Committee sent a revised letter to the National Assembly with a new phrase of ‘the Constitutional Court President plus Constitutional judge.”

However, the major opposition party argued, “There is no legal ground to hold a hearing for both positions at the same time in the personnel hearing committee,” and required authoritative interpretation by the speaker of the National Assembly.

Both sides remained at a standstill as to whether to adopt a follow-up report of the personnel committee after Jeon’s hearing.

yongari@donga.com