Constitutional Court President Kim Sang-hwan said on the 13th that he would work to ensure the court's new system for reviewing court rulings, including final Supreme Court decisions, through constitutional complaints "takes root stably with the public's trust and fully realizes its original purpose."
Kim made the remarks at a parliamentary audit held by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly in Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul, on the morning of the 13th. "Correcting violations of the people's basic rights and restoring them in line with the Constitution's original intent of guaranteeing those rights is the essential mission entrusted to the Constitutional Court," he said.
Kim said the court has built the necessary infrastructure since the system was introduced, securing staff and budget to handle a rising caseload and pushing ahead with an overhaul of information systems related to ruling reviews. "We have also closely reviewed and improved operations across the board, including revising the relevant adjudication rules, to ensure the system runs smoothly and settles in quickly," he said.
Kim also stressed the swift handling of constitutional cases. He said the bench, which had long had vacancies, was brought to its full complement of nine justices when he took office at the end of July last year, and that the court has since focused on hearing and ruling on a backlog of cases. Among the major decisions, he cited rulings on the threshold clause for allocating proportional representation seats in the National Assembly, the denial of weekend attorney visits for unconvicted detainees, and legislative inaction on birth registration for foreign children. "Judged by the standards of a public that holds the constitutional right to a speedy trial, there are still shortcomings," he said. "We will continue to do our utmost to deliver rulings that are prompt but not careless."
Kim also outlined gains in constitutional education and public outreach. He said the annual number of people receiving constitutional education at the Constitutional Research Institute is projected to reach about 30,000 by the end of this year, up from a previous range of 2,000 to 3,000, adding that the program has been expanded to include soldiers and police officers.
Kim left the session after his opening remarks with permission from Seo Young-kyo, chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. Son In-hyuk, secretary general of the Constitutional Court, and other officials will field questions from committee members of both the ruling and opposition parties.