Constitutional Court to Rule on BBK Probe Tomorrow

The Constitutional Court (Chief Justice, Lee Kang-guk) announced on Jan. 8 that it will issue a ruling on Jan. 10, 2 p.m. on whether the scheduled special investigation into President-elect Lee Myung-bak`s alleged involvement in a 2001 financial scam is unconstitutional or not.

Last week, six plaintiffs, including the president-elect`s brother Lee Sang-eun, filed a petition against the BBK special investigation bill to the Constitutional Court.

The Constitutional Court held court conferences for two days from Jan. 3 to 4 to examine the petition involving the BBK special investigation bill. If the court decides that the special investigation against Lee is unconstitutional, the special bill will lose its validity.

The decision from the high court only takes about 13 days since the petition was filed on Dec. 28. The decision was made faster-than-expected since the launch of the special counsel bill is imminent. It is scheduled to be launched on Jan. 14.

If more than six out of the nine judges agree that the clauses in question contain unconstitutional elements, the clauses become unconstitutional.

The court judges agree that the major elements of the special investigation bill are unconstitutional, while they are still discussing over the remaining clauses.

Some legal sources familiar with the court predict that the decision by the court is not likely to sustain the special probe but will inevitably weaken the efficiency of the investigation.

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