The impeachment prosecution against the Busan High Court chief judge Im Seong-geun passed the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 4th. The photo shows Judge Im Seong-geun, Chief Criminal Chief Justice Seong-geun Im having a meeting with prison guards at Seoul Detention Center in 2014. Newsis
The Constitutional Court initiated a hearing on the head of the Busan High Court, Im Seong-geun, who was impeached for alleged abuse of judicial administration power. Regarding the first judge’s impeachment trial, experts predicted that it is not easy to make an impeachment decision, but it is highly likely to give an opinion on whether the constitution is unconstitutional.
Im Seong-geun, who is tried on the same case, can impeachment?
According to the legal community on the 6th, the entire Constitutional Court is deliberating after assigning a case number (2021 Heonna1) to the impeachment prosecution of Judge Lim submitted by the National Assembly. The referee is Judge Lee Seok-tae, who served as chairman of the lawyers’ association for democratic society and co-representative of the solidarity of participation.
Judge Lim is currently being tried for the same reasons as the impeachment bill. It is alleged that he intervened in the court case of former Sankei Shimbun Seoul Bureau chief, who was accused of defamation against the then President Park Geun-hye in 2015, and the pro-baseball players Lim Chang-yong and Oh Seung-hwan’s Won Jeong-bak case. Judge Lim was acquitted in the first trial, and an appeal trial is in progress.
For this reason, some have questioned whether it is right to impeach before the results of the trial come out. Regarding this, Dr. Seung Jae-Hyun of the Korea Criminal Policy Research Institute explained, “The prosecution and impeachment can be carried out simultaneously because the purpose is different, as seen in the case of former President Park Geun-hye. This is because the trial is a procedure for punishment, and the constitution decides whether to dismiss the vice-president judge’s action in violation of the constitution. Former President Park was impeached by the Constitution on March 10, 2017, for supporting Choi Seo-won (previously renamed Choi Soon-sil) to intervene in the state affairs and pursue private interests as a violation of the Constitution. On the other hand, in the case of the trial, bribery was recognized as a crime, and the sentence was confirmed only last month.
The impeachment trial may be suspended while criminal proceedings are in progress. Article 51 of the Constitutional Law stipulates that “if criminal proceedings are proceeded for the same reason as the request for impeachment trial, the court may suspend the trial process.” Because of this, Dr. Seung said, “There is a problem with the trial and impeachment trial at the same time.”
I’m not guilty of the first trial, is it possible to impeach?
Even if the Chief Judge Lim was found not guilty at the first trial, the impeachment requirement was not significantly affected. This is because the first trial judge ruled that “While it is possible to take disciplinary action for unconstitutional illegal acts, it is not possible to ask for a crime.”
However, in the legal community, it is highly likely that the Constitutional Court will dismiss the decision because the term of office of the vice-president will expire at the end of this month. In addition, there is an opinion that it is difficult for a decision to impeach an impeachment decision because there must be a serious violation of the constitution that would lead to dismissal.
However, there is a high possibility that the constitution will provide supplementary opinions. Constitutional judges can express their opinions in the decision if they judge that the reason for impeachment exists despite dismissal. In fact, while the Constitution made a decision to dismiss or dismiss a constitutional petition last month against a high-ranking public officials criminal investigation office, it drew supplemental and minor opinions on the provisions of the transfer of investigation rights. Dr. Seung said, “Because the decision of dismissal after the term of office of the vice-president judges expires or it is an act that is in danger of being repeated, it is possible to make the main decision regardless of the interests of the cattle.” I said.
Reporter Lee Ga-young [email protected]