[Breaking] Constitutional Court Rules "Court Organization Act Provision Unconstitutional for Disqualifying Judges with Party Membership Within 3 Years"

On the 18th, the Constitutional Court ruled unconstitutional the part of Article 43, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 5 of the Court Organization Act, which prohibits legal professionals from being appointed as judges within three years from the date they lose their status as party members under the Political Parties Act. The decision was made with a 7 (unconstitutional) to 2 (partially unconstitutional) vote, stating that it violates the petitioner’s right to hold public office and is therefore unconstitutional.

The petitioner, Mr. A, applied for a position as an experienced judge in 2021 and passed the legal document drafting evaluation. However, due to the provision applied from 2021, he was unable to take the appointment exam for judges, leading him to file a constitutional complaint.

Contrary to the majority opinion of the Constitutional Court, Justices Eun-Ae Lee and Young-Jin Lee expressed a partial unconstitutionality opinion, stating that the part of the provision concerning the Chief Justice and Supreme Court Justices does not violate the Constitution, but the part concerning judges does.

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