Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Declines to Nominate Successor Justices... Appointment Delays for Ahn Cheol-sang and Min Yoo-sook Inevitable

Acting Chief Justice Ahn Cheol-sang has decided not to proceed with the preliminary procedures for the appointment of successor Supreme Court justices.

On the 16th, the Supreme Court held a meeting of justices to discuss the scope of authority of the Acting Chief Justice. As a result, it was decided not to carry out the preliminary procedures for the recommendation of Supreme Court justice appointments. However, the Acting Chief Justice will decide on matters such as the selection of cases to be heard by the full bench and whether to issue rulings, considering the urgency and necessity of the cases.

Acting Chief Justice Ahn Cheol-sang is delivering a greeting at the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Supreme Court and affiliated institutions, held on the morning of the 10th at the Supreme Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul.

At the justices' meeting, Acting Chief Justice Ahn stated, "The authority of the Acting Chief Justice is provisional in nature, and maintaining the status quo is the principle. Therefore, it is appropriate to exercise authority over routine matters, while deferring or refraining from policy decisions."

Based on this position, Acting Chief Justice Ahn decided not to proceed with the preliminary procedures for the recommendation of appointments, taking into account various opinions raised at the justices' meeting. The Supreme Court also reported that some opinions at the meeting suggested that it would be desirable to carry out part of the recommendation procedures, such as nominations, as preliminary steps for the recommendation of appointments.

Accordingly, the appointment process for successors to Supreme Court Justices Ahn Cheol-sang and Min Yoo-sook, whose terms expire on January 1 next year, is expected to be inevitably delayed.

However, regarding judicial personnel matters, the reappointment of judges will proceed under the supervision of the Acting Chief Justice, and the 2024 regular personnel schedule for judges will proceed as previously announced. The 2024 regular personnel schedule for court officials will also proceed on the same timeline as before.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court will monitor the progress of the Chief Justice appointment process and discuss the scope of authority of the Acting Chief Justice again if necessary.

On the other hand, the Supreme Court reported that at the meeting, justices reached a consensus that "the full bench of the Supreme Court may proceed with hearings by exercising the authority of the Chief Justice as presiding judge, in order to guarantee the people's right to a faithful trial and with reference to precedents."

The Acting Chief Justice will decide on the selection of cases to be heard by the full bench and whether to issue rulings, considering the urgency and necessity of the cases.

Meanwhile, the justices attending the meeting expressed concern over the situation where the Supreme Court's functions, such as judicial authority, could be impaired due to delays in the appointment recommendation process caused by the vacancy of the Chief Justice position. They agreed that the appointment process for the Chief Justice should proceed swiftly to prevent further inconvenience to the public.

Separately, the Supreme Court reported that former nominee Lee Kyun-yong, whose appointment consent was rejected by the National Assembly, was transferred to the Seoul High Court as of the 17th and will perform judicial research duties until the end of this year, according to personnel orders.

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