Put the Constitutional Court back on track

The two major parties must restore the high court’s original function as quickly as possible to help it deliver rulings only based on legal logic.

As the abnormal operation of the Constitutional Court continues, a justice publicly lamented, “Does it signify the suspension of our job at the court?” The current six-member system resulted from two major political parties’ sharp disagreement over how to fill the empty three seats after three justices retired from their posts last month. A justice of the court complained about its inability to deliver rulings on sensitive cases through the full meeting of nine justices.

The Constitutional Court Act mandates that at least seven justices should deliberate on cases. But the court has so far violated the law since Oct. 18 after the National Assembly stopped recommending candidates for the three empty seats due to their partisan fight. In Tuesday’s deliberation on the impeachment of Korea Communications Commission Chair Lee Jin-sook by the majority party, the Constitutional Court was able to proceed with its deliberation after it accepted Lee’s request for an injunction against the required nine-member deliberation. But the procedure was certainly not normal.

The responsibility for the crisis of the court lies with the legislature. As three justices of the nine-member bench should be seated by the legislature, each of them was evenly recommended by three large political parties in the past. But this time, only two parties are eligible to recommend the three justices, as each of them has more than 20 seats in the legislature. But the two parties — the governing People Power Party (PPP) and the majority Democratic Party (DP) — are fiercely battling over who should recommend a candidate for the remaining seat after their recommendation of two candidates.

The sharp dispute comes from the immense power of the Constitutional Court, including its authority to weigh the constitutionality of all laws and even disband a political party. The PPP and the DP couldn’t reach an agreement due to their insistence on the remaining candidate to their favor.

In the meantime, unsettled cases are piling up in the court. As a result, the bench cannot deliver any rulings that require deliberation by the full nine justices. According to the law, at least six justices are needed to hand down a ruling on sensitive cases involving the impeachment of top officials in the government. But under the current six-member system, rulings on impeachments are only possible when the six justices reach a unanimous decision.

On Tuesday, the DP launched a coalition of lawmakers to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol. But such a move is not convincing, as the Constitutional Court is nearly paralyzed. The two major parties must restore the high court’s original function as quickly as possible to help it deliver rulings only based on legal logic.