Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Tan-hee (center) proposed the impeachment of Justice Party Justice Ryu Ho-jeong (right) and Justice Party lawmaker Ryu Ho-jeong on the 22nd. yunhap news
In addition, the Democratic Party decided to pursue an impeachment proceeding against the head of the Busan High Court Judge Im Seong-geun, who had been suspected of being involved in the Judicial Nongdan case. If the proposal for impeachment of Deputy Chief Judge Lim is passed at a plenary session of the National Assembly, it will be the first case in the history of constitution. If the National Assembly votes on the impeachment prosecution with a majority (151 seats) of the registered members, the Constitutional Court decides to dismiss it with the consent of at least 6 out of 9 judges.
Democratic Party Representative Nak-yeon Lee said, “According to the will of the national judges’ delegations, we decided to allow the proceedings of impeachment proceedings against Judge Im, who is suspected of violating the Constitution,” and said, “After various judgments (after the assembly ) Kim Tae-nyeon suggested that it would be better to allow the promotion of the impeachment bill, and I agreed.”
Won Nae Kim also said, “If you look at the trial records of Deputy Chief Judge Im, the charges of violating the constitution are clearly stated.” “Because the National Assembly has the right to impeach, the party respects the opinions of many lawmakers saying,’It is the duty that the National Assembly does not impeach. I made a decision.”
The motion of the impeachment prosecution requires the consent of more than one-third (100) of registered members. If this agenda is reported at the plenary meeting held on February 1, it is expected to be voted on at the plenary meeting held on February 3 in accordance with the provisions of the National Assembly Act, which states that the vote will be made within 72 hours after 24 hours. Because’impeachment’ is not a party argument, Democratic party lawmakers are free to vote. However, considering the current number of Democratic Party seats (174 seats), there is also a prediction that it is likely to be passed.
Deputy Judge Im was suspicious of having previously reported and revised the ruling before the trial of the Japanese Sankei Shimbun reporter (December 2015), who was accused of defamation after raising the “seven hours suspicion of the Sewol ferry” of former President Park Geun-hye. come. In February of last year, the first trial court judged Judge Lim, who was handed over to trial for abuse of authority, as “an unconstitutional act that violates the independence of judges,” but was acquitted of the charges of abuse of authority.
Judge Lim has not recently applied for reappointment, and is about to retire on February 28th.
The reason that the Democratic Party initially attempted to prosecute impeachment at this point was that “Judge Im can not be honored to retire and act as a lawyer and enjoy all courtesy.” If the constitution quotes the impeachment, it becomes impossible to register a lawyer and take office in public office for five years, and some retirement benefits are also limited.
However, it is unclear whether the decision of the Constitutional Constitution will come out until February 28, when Judge Lim retires. Rep. Kim Hoi-jae, the chairman of the Democratic Party’s legal committee, said, “Even if the impeachment prosecution is resolved in the National Assembly, it is highly likely that the constitution will be dismissed once the vice-president judge retires.” The Democratic Party is in a position that even in such a case, the symbolism of’the 1st impeachment prosecution by the National Assembly’ is not small.
Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon said that on the 28th, at the top of the list, the party mostly heard opinions about the impeachment of judges. Even before the final decision, the leadership also raised concerns that “they could spread like a conflict of Chuyun” (Han Supreme Commissioner). Reporter Oh Jong-taek
Lee Dong-geun, the head of the Seoul High Court, who was initially discussed with the subject of impeachment prosecution, was excluded from the subject of impeachment during the assembly of the lawmakers. Judge Lee, unlike Judge Lim, was not handed over to trial.
It was Rep. Lee Tan-hee, an informant of the Judicial Nongdan, who led the impeachment proceeding. On the 22nd, the impeachment of a judge was publicly proposed in the name of 107 members of the pan-passport.
Some of the party’s opinions were not small because of the side effects of the impeachment of judges and the crunch in relations between the opposition parties. However, the next party leader, Song Young-gil, Woo Won-shik, and Hong Young-pyo, all said, “It is a dismissal of responsibility for the National Assembly not to initiate impeachment.” “The young lawmakers and the next party leader are also asking for a decision, but avoiding this could lead to a leadership responsibility theory” (first lawmaker in Chungcheong-gwon) said.
At the end of the congress, Kim said, “The leadership will decide in consideration of the opinions of several lawmakers.” But my worries weren’t long. Leaders such as Representative Lee and Kim Won-nae met immediately after the General Assembly for a final discussion, and decided to allow a proposal for impeachment against Judge Im. However, President Kim Won-nae explained, “This is not the case.”
The impeachment of a judge was initiated in 1985 when an unfair figure against Supreme Court Chief Yoo Tae-heung became controversial during the 12th National Assembly, but was rejected. In 2009, in the 18th National Assembly, the Democratic Party proposed an impeachment bill due to Supreme Court Justice Shin Young-cheol’s involvement in the candlelight vigil trial for mad cow disease, but the vote failed and the term expired.
“Easier than impeachment of the President” vs. “Controversy”
The Democratic Party’s allegation of impeachment of a judge involving Judicial Nongdan was materialized from the second half of 2018 after an investigation by the prosecution against former Supreme Court Chief Yang Seung-tae. In November 2018, when the National Judges’ Meeting revealed that “the impeachment proceedings should be reviewed together” against the Judge Nongdan’s involvement, the passports argued that it was “easy to impeach the president” (Rep. Park Joo-min).
Democratic Party lawmaker Park Joo-min argued for impeachment of judges in July of last year, after the inauguration of the 21st National Assembly. Congressman Park has been leading public opinion on impeachment of judges within the party since 2018. yunhap news
However, there were 129 seats for the Democratic Party at the time, and it was impossible to process a single vote, and the party’s deliberate opinion was too high. Eventually, the impeachment of judges in the 20th National Assembly was either adopted as a party argument or abolished without being drawn as a single proposal. In particular, from August 2019, as the’motherland crisis’ began to rise and the Democratic Party’s attention was shifted to Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, the impeachment of judges naturally sank below the surface.
Constitutional scholars argued that “impeachment of judges is the authority of the National Assembly, but clear grounds for unconstitutional and legal violations must be supported.” Hwang Do-soo, a professor at Konkuk University’s Law School, said, “The impeachment of judges is the only device to check the judiciary, so it is necessary.” However, former Constitutional Judge Lee Gong-hyun (representative lawyer Jipyeong Law Firm) said, “Clear evidence of unconstitution must be acknowledged, and the priority is to determine whether the crime is serious enough to dismiss the position.” Attorney Kim Han-gyu (space law firm) said, “There is a possibility of dispute over whether the case of the Deputy Chief Judge Lim is a serious violation of the constitution or the law, so it will be controversial in the process of determining the constitution.”
Reporter Kim Hyo-seong and Kim Soo-hyun, intern reporter [email protected]