Yoon Seok-yeol's Side Requests Constitutional Court for Swift Injunction Decision to Suspend Disciplinary Committee

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] On the 11th, four days before the second review date of the Ministry of Justice's Prosecutor Disciplinary Committee, the side of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol once again pointed out the bias in the composition of the disciplinary committee and procedural flaws.

Lawyer Lee Wan-gyu, representing Prosecutor General Yoon, stated in a press release sent to reporters on the same day, "We have submitted an additional written request to the Constitutional Court urging a swift decision on the injunction application."

The side of Prosecutor General Yoon filed a constitutional complaint on the 4th, arguing that the Prosecutor Disciplinary Act, which mandates the formation of the disciplinary committee under the leadership of the Minister of Justice, is unconstitutional, and applied for an injunction to suspend the disciplinary committee's procedures. If the Constitutional Court accepts Yoon's injunction application, the disciplinary committee will not be able to convene until the court makes a final decision on the constitutionality of the Prosecutor Disciplinary Act.

Lawyer Lee also claimed that appointing Professor Jeong Han-jung of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Law School as a new member to replace a member who resigned before the disciplinary committee's review the previous day was illegal. He argued that if a scheduled member cannot perform their duties, a pre-designated alternate member should participate in the review.

Lee said, "If the Minister can nominate or appoint a new person as a member after the disciplinary request, they could arbitrarily appoint an unfair person, seriously undermining fairness." On the other hand, the Ministry of Justice holds the position that in this case, since the disciplinary committee member's vacancy was due to resignation rather than 'inability to perform duties,' a new member can be appointed.

Lee also raised issues regarding the timing of the recusal of Shim Jae-cheol, Director of the Ministry of Justice's Prosecutor Office, the previous day. Shim participated in the vote on the recusal and then voluntarily recused himself from the review, sparking controversy over a procedural trick. It is alleged that the timing of the recusal was delayed to meet the quorum for the vote.

Lee stated, "The committee adopted Shim as a witness ex officio, which seems to have been planned. The fact that a person who was planning to recuse themselves attended the review date and participated in the recusal vote itself violates fairness." The committee maintains that there is no problem with Shim's recusal.

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