Kim Myung-soo who noticed his passport… The head of the judiciary broke the separation of powers.

Supreme Court Chief Kim Myung-soo is going to work at the Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 4th, when a ballot on the impeachment prosecution against Judge Lim Seong-geun, head of the Busan High Court, who was involved in’Judongnongdan. When Supreme Court Justice Kim Seong-geun released a recording file of his interview in May last year, the lawyer released a transcript that contained the remarks that Supreme Court Chief Kim Myung-soo refused to accept his resignation with the impeachment in mind. [연합뉴스]

On the 4th, the Korean judiciary faced another crisis. This is because it turned out to be true that Supreme Court Chief Kim Myung-soo made a statement of impeachment after an interview with the Busan High Court chief judge Im Seong-geun on May 22 last year was released. Supreme Court Chief Kim apologized for lying to the National Assembly and the media after one day, saying, “I apologize for responding differently based on unclear memories.”

The problem goes beyond the lie of the head of the judiciary that lowered the court’s trust to the bottom. This is because there are criticisms that the remarks made public by the fostering of Supreme Court Chief Kim Myung-soo undermined the separation of powers and court independence under the constitution. Article 101 (1) of the Constitution states that “the jurisdiction belongs to a court composed of judges” and Article 103, “Judges shall judge independently according to their conscience in accordance with the Constitution and laws.”

Senior Constitutional Scholar Heo Young, Chair Professor at Kyunghee UniversityThe Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, as the head of the judiciary, is the person who must step forward for the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary from the draft. “It was proved in his own words that he had no qualities at all.I said.

At the time of an interview with Supreme Court Chief Kim Myung-soo (right) in May of last year, the deputy chief judge of Busan High Court Lim Seong-geun (left) was controversial over whether or not he said ″impeachment″. yunhap news

Chief Justice Kim poured out remarks disregarding his constitutional obligations to Judge Lim, who submitted his resignation for health reasons in a solemn position in the office of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at around 5 pm on May 22 last year. Summarizing the three remarks released through the recording of the voice, “If the resignation is accepted considering the political situation, the National Assembly will not be able to talk about impeachment, so I will be criticized, so I will not be able to repair it.”

Supreme Court Chief Kim said from his first remark, “We must consider the political situation separately from the legal issue for resignation.” In relation to the situation where the Democratic Party and others won 180 seats in the general elections last year just before the interview, the head of the judiciary was aware of the passport and associated it with the resignation.

In response, a local vice-president judge criticized that “it is a complete violation of the separation of powers that the Supreme Court’s remarks came out of the mouth of the Supreme Court, which seemed to respond with the National Assembly in order to derive political power and results for circumstances other than trial.” Judge Lee criticized that “if you draw it in a pyramid, some members of the ruling party can be seen at the top, then the Supreme Court, and then the judges.”

Another judge of the Central District Court said, “Last year, right after the general election, it was before the theory of impeachment of the judges began in earnest.” “I do not understand at all in time why the Supreme Court rejected the resignation for this reason, and it is doubtful that there had been rapport with the National Assembly before. “I also said.

In the second recorded file, Chief Justice Kim said, “If you talk openly, I’m installing something like that to impeach it. If I accept the resignation, what will the National Assembly hear?” Despite knowing that the Supreme Court’s constitutional authority to accept the resignation of a judge, he paid more attention to discussions and criticism of the impeachment of the National Assembly. Article 104, Paragraph 3 of the Constitution states, “The Chief Justice and judges who are not Supreme Court Justices shall be appointed by the Chief Justice with the consent of the Supreme Court Justices’ meeting”, and Article 106 states that “Judges shall not be suspended, reduced salaries, or other adverse dispositions except through disciplinary measures.” Stipulate.

A vice-president judge of the metropolitan area court said, “This’appointment’ includes the right to accept the resignation.” He pointed out that the decision) was also ended, so it was unfair to the Immigration Chief Judge. “It is clear in the Constitution that all the jurisdiction can do is disciplinary action. It is a normal judge’s view that impeachment is not the authority of the judiciary, so you should not even think about it.”

Supreme Court Chief Kim Myung-soo is receiving a letter of appointment from President Moon Jae-in at the Blue House in September 2017. Chief Justice Kim emphasized the independence of the judiciary at the inauguration ceremony held immediately after that. [중앙포토]

Chief Justice Kim’s sincerity was most clearly revealed in this third remark. It is also the most contrary to the constitutional principle of separation of powers. Impeachment prosecution is the legislative power of the Constitution and the National Assembly Act. After the National Assembly impeachment proceedings, the Constitutional Court has the right to trial independently of the court. However, Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim cited’impeachment’ as the reason why it was impossible to accept the letter of resignation despite the fact that Judge Lim was not guilty of the first criminal trial and was’reprimanded’ in the judiciary’s own disciplinary procedure.

Moreover, Supreme Court Chief Kim issued a statement on the 3rd on the suspicion of “impeachment” remarks on the 3rd, saying, “There is no fact that I have said to Judge Im Seong-geun that the resignation could not be accepted due to the issue of impeachment.” It was unprecedented to be revealed through self-raising.

The deputy judge of the High Court criticized, “Even after the so-called’jujudongdan’ incident, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court said that nothing has been learned or changed.” He pointed out that “the problem was that in the days of former Supreme Court Chief Yang, he was too subordinate to the administration, and now the opponent has just changed to the legislature.”

Chief Justice Kim was inaugurated as the 16th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on September 26, 2017, when the court suffered measles due to allegations of abuse of judicial administration power.

In his inauguration address, “I will not forget, for a moment, that it is the strict order of the people to stop any attempts to infringe on the independence of judges with my whole body as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and to secure the independence of the judiciary.” However, after 1227 days of inauguration, he broke his vows and became the head of the judiciary.

Reporter Lee Sujeong [email protected]