Constitutional Court Grants Injunction Suspending Effect of Kim Ki-hyun's '30-Day Suspension from National Assembly Attendance'

Constitutional Court: "Substantive Judgment Needed on Whether Rights to Deliberate and Vote on Bills Are Violated"

Kim Ki-hyun, Co-Chairman of the People Power Party's Joint Election Countermeasures Committee, is delivering opening remarks at the 'Local Election Central Election Countermeasures Committee Meeting' held at the National Assembly on the 23rd. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The Constitutional Court accepted the injunction request to suspend the effect of the '30-day suspension from attending the National Assembly' imposed on Kim Ki-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, which was passed under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea in the plenary session of the National Assembly. Accordingly, Kim, who had been suspended from attending the National Assembly until the 18th of this month, is now able to attend the National Assembly immediately.

On the 3rd, the Constitutional Court granted Kim's injunction request to suspend the effect of the 'suspension from attending the National Assembly' disciplinary action until the final ruling on the main case. When filing the injunction, Kim requested a dispute over authority against the Speaker of the National Assembly, claiming that the announcement of the disciplinary resolution violated the rights of a member of the National Assembly, such as the right to deliberate and vote on bills, and was therefore invalid. The Constitutional Court suspended Kim's disciplinary action until a decision is made on the dispute over authority.

The Constitutional Court stated, "Whether the 30-day suspension from attending the National Assembly can be challenged through a dispute over authority, and whether the applicant's rights to deliberate and vote on bills were infringed, need to be examined and judged in the main trial," adding, "It is difficult to consider the main trial clearly inappropriate or groundless."

Furthermore, the Court ruled, "If the suspension effect is maintained, regardless of whether the session is ongoing, the member will be unable to attend any meetings of the National Assembly, effectively suspending their activities as a member. This causes irreparable serious damage to the member's most important and essential rights, such as the right to deliberate and vote on bills, and there is an urgent need to prevent such damage."

It continued, "If the injunction is granted but the dispute over authority is dismissed or rejected in the final decision, the remaining period of the 30-day suspension will be enforced from that time, so this merely postpones the execution of the disciplinary action until the final ruling of the main trial. On the other hand, if the dispute over authority is accepted, the disciplinary action will have already been completed, and the applicant will have no way to restore and exercise the rights to deliberate and vote on bills that were infringed during the suspension period," emphasizing this point.

Earlier, on the 20th of last month, the National Assembly passed the '30-day suspension from attending the National Assembly' disciplinary motion against Kim in a plenary session. The disciplinary motion against Kim was submitted by the Democratic Party of Korea on the 26th of last month, when the ruling and opposition parties were clashing over the so-called 'Geomsu Wanbak' (complete removal of prosecution investigation rights) bill, citing Kim's occupation of the chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and disruption of the meeting as reasons. The motion was passed with 150 votes in favor, 109 against, and 9 abstentions. In response, the People Power Party filed an injunction request to suspend the effect of the disciplinary motion and a dispute over authority with the Constitutional Court regarding Kim's disciplinary action.

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