"Constitution Violated, Rule of Law Erased"... Beopseoryeon Files Prosecutor Complaint Against Lee Nak-yeon and Lee Tan-hee for 'Judge Impeachment'

Lee Tan-hee, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is giving a proposal explanation on the "Impeachment Motion against Judge Im Seong-geun" at the National Assembly plenary session on the 4th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] A civic group has filed a complaint with the prosecution against Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and party lawmaker Lee Tan-hee, accusing them of obstructing the exercise of rights by Im Seong-geun, Chief Judge of the Busan High Court, during the process of impeaching him.

The Action Alliance for the Restoration of the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon) held a press conference in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 5th, announcing that they would criminally accuse Lee and Lee of jointly abusing their authority and obstructing the exercise of rights.

Beopse-ryeon stated, "The impeachment of Chief Judge Im is the first impeachment of a judge in constitutional history and serves as a precedent, so it is not an impeachment against an individual but against the entire judiciary," adding, "The ruling party's unilateral impeachment driven by numbers is an unconstitutional outrage that cannot be justified for any reason and a constitutional violation that annihilated democracy and the rule of law."

They continued, "The basis for the impeachment motion cites the first trial's judgment that Chief Judge Im committed unconstitutional acts, but this merely refers to the general and theoretical notion that since the constitution guarantees judicial independence, any influence on a trial in any form constitutes an unconstitutional act," emphasizing, "The court found that Chief Judge Im's specific actions did not constitute a serious infringement of judicial authority and acquitted him, so the expression 'unconstitutional act' cannot be accepted as grounds for the impeachment motion."

Beopse-ryeon also said, "It is said that lawmaker Lee collected signatures on a blank impeachment motion," adding, "Having lawmakers sign an impeachment motion without knowing its content while impeaching a judge is a clear illegality and procedural defect."

They further explained, "Skipping the evidence investigation procedure by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee is a procedural defect, and ignoring Chief Judge Im's request for fact-finding under the National Assembly Act, which he posted on the court's internal network 'CourtNet,' clearly infringes on constitutional defense rights."

Moreover, Beopse-ryeon added, "Proposing the impeachment motion by violating due process, such as signing an illegal blank impeachment motion and omitting evidence investigation under the National Assembly Act, constitutes abuse of authority," and "Suspending Chief Judge Im's duties by passing the impeachment motion clearly amounts to obstructing the exercise of rights."

Meanwhile, the National Assembly held a plenary session the previous day and passed the impeachment motion against Chief Judge Im with 179 votes in favor, 102 against, 3 abstentions, and 4 invalid votes out of 288 members present.