National Assembly: "No Need for Assembly Resolution on Ma Eun-hyeok's Unappointment Jurisdiction Dispute Petition"

The National Assembly stated that a resolution by the National Assembly is not required for the request for a constitutional dispute adjudication regarding the withholding of the appointment of Ma Eun-hyeok, a nominee for Constitutional Court Justice, by Choi Sang-mok, Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister兼 Minister of Strategy and Finance.

Yang Hong-seok, a lawyer from the law firm Lee & Kong representing the National Assembly, explained in a press release on the 2nd that the claim by some that "a National Assembly resolution is necessary for filing a constitutional dispute adjudication, and that requests filed without such a resolution should be dismissed as inadmissible" is "not reasonable in light of the Constitution, the National Assembly Act, the Constitutional Court Act, and precedents of the Constitutional Court."

On the 26th, the National Assembly plenary session is presenting the nomination of Ma Eun-hyeok, Jeong Gye-seon, and Jo Han-chang as Constitutional Court justices. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

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Regarding the so-called "wartime operational control constitutional dispute case," which is cited as an example of a constitutional dispute adjudication request dismissed due to lack of a National Assembly resolution, Lawyer Yang argued that "it was a case filed by individual members of the National Assembly as parties, which is different from this case where the National Assembly itself is the party."

He said, "Regarding whether the National Assembly, as a party, must obtain a resolution of the National Assembly to file a constitutional dispute adjudication request, neither the Constitution, the National Assembly Act, nor the Constitutional Court Act requires such a procedure, and there has been no precedent of the National Assembly passing a resolution for filing or responding to specific lawsuits. Rather, the Constitutional Court has ruled on the premise that the National Assembly's litigation acts are lawful even without a National Assembly resolution."

He added, "The respondent side (Acting President Choi) has not made any particular claims regarding the lack of legal requirements due to the constitutional dispute adjudication request being filed without a National Assembly resolution, and the Constitutional Court has also made no particular remarks on this point."

Earlier, Speaker Woo Won-sik filed a constitutional dispute adjudication against Acting President Choi on behalf of the National Assembly on the 3rd of last month after Choi appointed only two of the three Constitutional Court Justice nominees recommended by the National Assembly and withheld the appointment of nominee Ma.

In response, Representative Joo Jin-woo, chairman of the People Power Party's legal advisory committee, and others argued, "A constitutional dispute adjudication should have been filed through a vote of the National Assembly, not solely by Speaker Woo," and insisted, "It should be dismissed immediately."

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