Next Week's Supreme Court Justices Meeting Draws Attention... Acting Chief Justice's 'Scope of Authority' at Issue

Supreme Court Justice Appointment Recommendation, Authority Acting Outside Jurisdiction
Issues with Personnel Changes for Over 3,100 Judges in February Next Year

A meeting of Supreme Court justices to discuss the scope of authority exercised by Acting Chief Justice Ahn Cheol-sang after Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo's retirement will be held next week. The justices' meeting is regularly held once a month and can be convened temporarily as needed. This upcoming meeting will be a temporary session.

The most important issue at this meeting is whether the Acting Chief Justice can recommend appointments to the President for the successors of Justices Ahn Cheol-sang and Min Yoo-sook, who will retire on January 1 next year, in the event that the vacancy of the Chief Justice position caused by the failure of nominee Lee Gyun-yong to be appointed prolongs. If the successor Chief Justice is not inaugurated by January 1 next year and Acting Chief Justice Ahn himself retires, Justice Kim Seon-su, a former president of Minbyun, will take over as Acting Chief Justice.

Supreme Court building.

According to the legal community on the 13th, the 13 Supreme Court justices are expected to focus the key agenda of this meeting on deciding whether the Acting Chief Justice has the authority to recommend candidates for Supreme Court justice appointments and whether the regular personnel appointments scheduled for January to February next year fall within that authority. Since there is precedent for the full bench of the Supreme Court to conduct hearings and rulings presided over by the Acting Chief Justice, this issue is expected to be excluded from the main agenda of this meeting.

The Supreme Court’s Judicial Administration Office is reportedly preparing a report for the justices based on existing legal principles, keeping various possibilities open regarding the scope of duties that the Acting Chief Justice can perform, as there are no established precedents or regulations. The justices plan to conduct the meeting based on this report.

Within the judiciary, there is a prevailing view that Acting Chief Justice Ahn recommending candidates for justices exceeds the scope of his authority. It is reported that at the justices' meeting held on the 25th of last month, a majority of justices expressed the opinion that recommending candidates for the next justices is unlikely to fall within the Acting Chief Justice’s authority. Earlier, at the Supreme Court audit held on the 10th, Kim Sang-hwan, Director of the Judicial Administration Office (and a justice), also stated, "There are doubts about whether the Acting Chief Justice can recommend two justices."

However, the Judicial Administration Office is considering a plan for the Acting Chief Justice to initiate preliminary procedures for recommending justices so that once a new Chief Justice is appointed, recommendations can be made promptly. This plan involves receiving nominations for candidates, verifying them, forming a Supreme Court Justice Recommendation Committee (Recommendation Committee), and conducting a final selection process in advance to avoid the worst-case scenario where Supreme Court trials could be paralyzed due to vacancies.

However, even forming the Recommendation Committee, which nominates, verifies, and recommends candidates, is expected to face difficulties. According to the Court Organization Act, the Recommendation Committee consists of six ex officio members, one judge who is not a Supreme Court justice, and four non-ex officio members who are distinguished individuals with academic and moral standing and extensive experience in various professional fields but are not qualified lawyers. The non-ex officio members are appointed by the Chief Justice. Therefore, there is considerable debate over whether the Acting Chief Justice can appoint the non-ex officio members of the Recommendation Committee.

The personnel appointments of general court officials scheduled for January to February next year, including about 3,100 judges, also pose a problem. Judge appointments are made by the Chief Justice after deliberation by the Personnel Committee and approval by the justices' meeting, and the Chief Justice decides judges’ assignments. There is no precedent for an Acting Chief Justice making judge appointments, so legal review is necessary. Inside the judiciary, the prevailing opinion is that judge appointments are practically impossible during a vacancy in the Chief Justice position.

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