Supreme Court: "Restoration of Former Tongjindang Lawmaker Status Not Possible"

Local Council Members' 'Retention of Council Seats' Confirmed

Oh Byung-yoon, Kim Jae-yeon, Kim Mi-hee, former Unified Progressive Party lawmakers, and party members held a press conference last month in front of the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu ahead of the first trial sentencing for Lee Min-geol, former Planning and Coordination Office Director of the Court Administration Office, and Lee Gyu-jin, former standing member of the Supreme Court Sentencing Commission, who are involved in the so-called 'judicial farming' scandal, including charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of justice related to the lawsuit confirming the status of former Unified Progressive Party lawmakers.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Former Unified Progressive Party lawmakers filed a lawsuit seeking to restore their parliamentary seats lost due to the Constitutional Court's decision to dissolve the party, but they ultimately lost as the Supreme Court also rejected their claim.

The Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Taeak Noh) announced on the morning of the 29th that it upheld the lower court's ruling dismissing the appeal in the case where former Unified Progressive Party lawmakers Kim Mi-hee, Kim Jae-yeon, Oh Byung-yoon, Lee Sang-gyu, and Lee Seok-ki sued the state to confirm their status as members of the National Assembly. Earlier, in January of the following year, former lawmaker Kim Mi-hee and others filed the lawsuit, arguing that the Constitutional Court's December 2014 decision to dissolve the Unified Progressive Party lacked legal grounds to strip the lawmakers of their parliamentary seats.

The first trial court dismissed the lawsuit, stating, "The Constitutional Court, which holds the final authority on constitutional interpretation and application, made the decision, so the court cannot contest or re-examine it." The second trial court ruled that while the court could determine the loss of parliamentary status, the effect of the unconstitutional party dissolution decision naturally results in the loss of the parliamentary seats, thus ruling against the plaintiffs.

The Supreme Court's judgment was consistent with the lower courts. The bench stated, "As an effect of the dissolution decision, lawmakers belonging to an unconstitutional party must be considered to have lost their seats." It concluded that excluding lawmakers from a dissolved party in the National Assembly, where the political will of the people is formed, aligns with the concept of defensive democracy.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Yusook Min) upheld the lower court's ruling in favor of former Unified Progressive Party Jeonbuk Provincial Assembly member Lee Hyun-sook in her appeal to confirm her status. Previously, the Central Election Commission, based on the Constitutional Court's party dissolution decision, notified the proportional representation local councilors of the former Unified Progressive Party of the loss of their seats, but Lee Hyun-sook filed a lawsuit opposing this.

Both the first and second trial courts ruled in favor of Lee. At that time, the courts interpreted that proportional representation local councilors who involuntarily leave or change their party affiliation due to external reasons are guaranteed their positions under relevant laws. The Supreme Court stated that there was "no error in the legal reasoning" of the lower courts' judgment.

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