People Power Party Claims Procedural Violations in Ruling Party’s Handling of 'Stronger Special Prosecutor Act'... Files Competence Dispute Petition

On September 8, the People Power Party announced that it had filed a competence dispute petition with the Constitutional Court, claiming that Choo Mi Ae, Chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, violated procedures during the handling of the so-called 'Stronger Special Prosecutor Act.'

Choo Mi-ae, Chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. Photo by Yonhap News

Kwak Kyutaek, the party’s legal advisory committee chairman, issued a statement that day, saying, "The People Power Party has filed a competence dispute petition in response to Chairperson Choo’s outrageous conduct of the meeting."

Kwak stated, "On September 4, during the process of handling the revised bills related to special prosecutors Cho Eunseok, Min Jungki, and Lee Myunghyun at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Chairperson Choo unilaterally appointed agenda adjustment committee members without consulting the secretary, and pushed the bills through with a formal agenda adjustment committee, ultimately passing them single-handedly."

He further argued, "Chairperson Choo’s actions constitute an arbitrary exercise of authority without legal basis, which directly violates the principle of legal reservation-a core tenet of the rule of law." He added, "Through this competence dispute petition, the People Power Party seeks to correct procedural violations and legislative monopolization by the majority party in the National Assembly."

The 'Stronger Special Prosecutor Act' significantly expands the investigation period, scope, and personnel for the three major special prosecutors (the insurrection case, Kim Keonhee case, and the death-in-service marine case), and mandates that related trials be recorded and broadcast to the public. On September 4, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, led by the Democratic Party, passed the amendments to the three major special prosecutor acts in a full committee meeting.

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