Court: "Substantive review of political parties not allowed, dual party membership investigation not possible"... Satellite parties permitted

Representative Won Yoo-chul, who was appointed as the leader of the Future Korea Party, holds a press conference at the party headquarters in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul on the 20th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The court ruled that the National Election Commission cannot conduct substantive reviews or dual party membership investigations on the satellite party of the United Future Party, the Mirae Korea Party. It stated that as long as formal requirements are met, there is no problem.

The Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 6 (Presiding Judge Lee Seong-yong) dismissed on the 20th the injunction request filed by 28 proportional representation candidates of the Justice Party, including Ryu Ho-jeong, seeking to suspend the effect of the National Election Commission's registration of the Mirae Korea Party.

Dismissing means ending the trial procedure without judging the claim itself when the lawsuit or claim does not meet the requirements.

The key issue was Article 15 of the Political Parties Act, which states that "the competent election commission that receives the registration application shall not reject it as long as the formal requirements are met." The Justice Party argued that the "formal requirements" presuppose constitutional requirements.

According to the ruling, the Justice Party emphasized that "in fact, the organization was established by the United Future Party for election purposes (lack of voluntariness), it does not have independent personnel and facilities from the United Future Party, and after the election, it is scheduled to merge with the United Future Party and dissolve (lack of continuity and solidity)."

However, the court stated, "It is not appropriate to judge based on the substantive contents such as the political goals and directions of the party, and the principle is to judge only based on whether the formal requirements are met."

Regarding the National Election Commission's formal review authority, it added, "It means reviewing whether the requirements are met only with the application form and attached documents submitted by the party, without substantive investigations such as on-site inspections or face-to-face interviews with related persons." Conducting substantive reviews would violate Article 15 of the Political Parties Act and could also violate the constitution, which adopts the party registration system.

Regarding the investigation of dual party membership, the court ruled, "It is a matter that can only be judged by receiving and comparing the membership lists of each party," and "Since there is no regulation requiring submission of membership lists when applying for party registration, it cannot be considered included in the formal review subject stipulated in Article 15 of the Political Parties Act."

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