Bar Association Recommends 5 Candidates to Succeed Constitutional Court Justices Lee Seon-ae and Lee Seok-tae

‘Hong Seungmyeon, Kim Hyeongdu, Jo Heejin, Sim Junbo, Ham Sanghun’ Recommended to the Supreme Court

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The Korean Bar Association (KBA) has nominated five candidates as successors to Lee Seon-ae and Lee Seok-tae, Constitutional Court Justices who will retire in March and April.

According to the legal community on the 18th, the KBA recommended to the Supreme Court the following candidates for the successors of Constitutional Court Justices Lee Seon-ae and Lee Seok-tae: Hong Seung-myeon, Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court (59, Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 18); Kim Hyung-doo, Deputy Director of the Court Administration Office (58, Class 19); Cho Hee-jin, Representative Lawyer of the law firm Dambak (61, Class 19); Shim Jun-bo, Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court (57, Class 20); and Ham Sang-hoon, Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court (56, Class 21).

Earlier, the Supreme Court accepted nominations for successors to Constitutional Court Justices Lee Seon-ae and Lee Seok-tae from the 6th to the 16th of this month. Among the nine Constitutional Court Justices including the Chief Justice, three are appointed by the President, three by the National Assembly, and the remaining three by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The appointing authority is the President.

Constitutional Court of Korea, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

The Supreme Court is currently asking the nominees for their consent to undergo verification. Nominees must be legal professionals aged 40 or older with at least 15 years of experience. The Supreme Court will disclose the list of those who agree to the review among the nominees, then hold a public opinion gathering period before convening the Constitutional Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee. Afterwards, Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo will designate the justices.

By the 12th of this month, the Supreme Court also received recommendations to appoint non-ex officio external members of the Constitutional Court Justice Recommendation Committee. The committee consists of nine members in total: five ex officio members including the Senior Justice, Director of the Court Administration Office, President of the Korean Bar Association, President of the Korean Association of Law Professors, and Chairperson of the Council of Law Schools, along with four non-ex officio members.