Son In-hyuk, secretary general of the Constitutional Court, said on the 13th that the prolonged vacancy on the Supreme Court bench — stemming from a standoff between the president and the chief justice over a successor to former Justice Noh Tae-ak — is "not a constitutionally desirable state."
Son made the remark during a parliamentary audit of the Constitutional Court held by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, responding to a question from Rep. Lee Sung-yoon of the Democratic Party of Korea, who asked whether the chief justice's refusal to comply with the president's request for a new nomination amounted to dereliction of duty, with the seat left by Noh vacant for 223 days.
Asked by Lee which constitutional power takes precedence — the president's authority to appoint Supreme Court justices or the chief justice's authority to nominate them — Son said, "I think it can differ depending on whether you place greater weight on the text or on the purpose."
When Rep. Kim Ki-pyo of the Democratic Party asked whether it was unconstitutional for the National Assembly to examine whether the nomination power had been exercised appropriately, rather than to deny the power itself, Son replied, "I do not think that in itself could be deemed unconstitutional."
Asked by Rep. Kim Han-kyu of the Democratic Party about the status of the competence dispute case filed by the People Power Party, Son said, "I understand that the case has been received and that discussions are under way on how to handle it."
The People Power Party earlier filed a competence dispute case with the Constitutional Court over President Lee's failure to submit a consent motion for Supreme Court justice nominee Son Bong-gi and his request for a new nomination.
When Kim asked whether the case was subject to dismissal even before its merits were examined, Son said, "Looking at existing precedents and the like, such a judgment is also possible." He was referring to precedents in which cases were dismissed for lack of standing when a particular party or individual lawmaker filed a competence dispute case claiming that the National Assembly's powers had been infringed.
To a question from Rep. Park Kyoun-taek of the Democratic Party on whether Chief Justice Jo Hee-de's claim that his nomination power had been infringed by the president's refusal to appoint amounted to a denial of constitutional provisions, Son said it was "a matter of interpreting Article 104, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution," adding, "With a competence dispute case filed at the Constitutional Court, I do not think it is appropriate for me to state a personal or institutional opinion."