"We Are the Target of the Board of Audit and Inspection? The Constitutional Court, Please Decide"…Election Commission Files Jurisdictional Dispute

Election Commission: "Not to evade Board of Audit and Inspection audit, sincerely cooperating"
"Request made to clarify the scope of the Board of Audit and Inspection audit"

The National Election Commission (NEC) filed a constitutional dispute adjudication with the Constitutional Court on the 28th regarding the Board of Audit and Inspection's (BAI) duty inspection.

The NEC had previously stated that while it accepts the BAI's audit concerning allegations of preferential treatment in career recruitment, it intends to file a constitutional dispute adjudication to determine whether the NEC falls within the scope of the BAI's audit.

This decision was made following the ruling on the 9th of last month. At that time, the NEC stated, "It is not in line with the constitutional spirit, which defines the NEC as an independent constitutional institution, for the executive branch's BAI to audit the NEC's inherent duties," adding, "We believe it is undesirable for the BAI and the NEC to appear to be in dispute over the scope of the BAI's audit of the NEC. To clarify this, we intend to file a constitutional dispute adjudication with the Constitutional Court, which holds the ultimate authority to interpret the Constitution."

The Central Election Commission office in Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi Province, 12 days before the 8th nationwide local elections, which are 20 days away. / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

An NEC official explained, "This constitutional dispute filing is not intended to evade the ongoing BAI audit, and we are sincerely cooperating with the BAI's audit."

The official further stated, "We hope that the scope of the BAI's audit over the NEC, which is an independent constitutional institution, will be clearly defined to prevent unnecessary disputes between state agencies from recurring."

The Constitutional Court set the timing for the constitutional dispute adjudication at the present because the Constitutional Court Act stipulates that such a petition must be filed within 60 days from the date the reason for the dispute is known. Since the controversy over whether the BAI is subject to duty inspection arose on the 2nd of last month, it was judged that the filing could not be delayed any further.

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