Constitutional Court Cancels Prosecutor General Lee Seok-moon's Non-Prosecution Suspension After Refusing Immediate Appeal Order... "Violation of Fundamental Rights"

Chief Justice Yoo Nam-seok of the Constitutional Court and the justices are waiting for the start of the constitutional review ruling on the unconstitutionality confirmation constitutional complaint regarding the "Announcement of the Korea-Japan Comfort Women Issue Agreement" held on the 27th at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Constitutional Court has ruled that the prosecution's decision to suspend indictment against Lee Seok-moon, the Superintendent of Education of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, on the grounds that he did not comply with the prosecution's directive to file an appeal and an immediate appeal during an administrative lawsuit, is unconstitutional.

On the 8th, the Constitutional Court announced that it made a unanimous decision by all justices to accept Superintendent Lee's petition in the constitutional complaint case requesting the cancellation of the prosecution's suspension of indictment. As a result of this decision, the suspension of indictment imposed on Superintendent Lee by the prosecution was canceled.

The Constitutional Court stated, "Superintendent Lee judged that even if he filed an immediate appeal, it was highly likely to be dismissed by the court, and despite this, if he filed an immediate appeal, it would only waste administrative power and undermine stability in the educational field. Considering various circumstances, we can accept Superintendent Lee's claim that he did not comply with the litigation directive due to concerns about the side effects that would occur if an immediate appeal was filed."

It added, "Putting aside the question of whether Superintendent Lee's abandonment of the immediate appeal was unlawfully evaluated, it is also difficult to easily conclude that Superintendent Lee consciously abandoned or neglected his duties. Despite the difficulty in recognizing the charge of dereliction of duty against Superintendent Lee based solely on the investigated content, there are errors in legal interpretation or insufficient investigation in the suspension of indictment decision, and as a result, Superintendent Lee's rights to equality and pursuit of happiness were infringed."

Superintendent Lee received the suspension of indictment from the prosecution in July 2017. This was because he was accused of dereliction of duty for not complying with the prosecution's directive related to the ongoing administrative lawsuit to cancel the dismissal of teacher Jin, who was under investigation at the time.

Jin was indicted and convicted with a fine of 10 million won for leading a general strike by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions opposing the import of U.S. beef while working as a teacher at a high school in Jeju in 2007.

Accordingly, the Teacher Disciplinary Committee dismissed Jin, and Jin filed an administrative lawsuit claiming the dismissal was unfair. The first and second trials ruled in Jin's favor, and during the second trial, Jin applied for a suspension of the execution of the dismissal, which the court accepted.

The Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office directed Superintendent Lee to file an appeal against the trial and an immediate appeal against the suspension of execution of the dismissal, but Superintendent Lee only filed the appeal and did not file the immediate appeal. When the prosecution issued the suspension of indictment decision, Superintendent Lee filed a constitutional complaint requesting its cancellation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.