The Constitutional Court: Excluding insurrection charges is up to us

The Constitutional Court: Excluding insurrection charges is up to us. January. 07, 2025 08:00. by ????? zion37@donga.com.
The Constitutional Court, which is hearing President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial, has stated that it will make its own decision regarding the National Assembly's request to exclude insurrection charges from the grounds for impeaching the president. The ruling party insists that the National Assembly must vote on the impeachment bill again while the opposition argues that there is no issue, and the Constitutional Court will directly hear the case to resolve the matter.

In response to a question about the exclusion of impeachment grounds at a briefing on Monday, Cheon Jae-hyeon, a Constitutional Court spokesperson, said, “There is no explicit provision (in the Constitution),” adding that it is a matter of judgment for the court. As there is no law that authorizes or regulates the exclusion of impeachment grounds, the justices will assess the need for reconsideration during further arguments and deliberations.

The Constitutional Court also stated that it was “entirely up to the court to determine which laws President Yoon violated.” The idea is that the Constitutional Court can decide which laws were violated by the president's individual acts—such as the declaration of martial law, the issuance of the proclamation, and the entry of military forces into the National Assembly during the December 3 martial law last year—even if they do not constitute rebellion under the criminal law cited in the impeachment resolution.

Many in the legal community believe that the Constitutional Court will not seek another vote from the National Assembly in President Yoon's impeachment trial, as the 2016 impeachment trial of former President Park Geun-hye was also conducted without a second vote to exclude criminal offenses such as bribery.

The Constitutional Court held its first meeting of the ‘eight-justice system’ on Monday morning, including new Justices Cho Han-chang and Jeong Gye-seon.