18 Sitting Judges, 7 Lawyers, and 2 Professors Agree to Review
Recommendation Committee to Collect Opinions from Next Month 1 to 14, Then Recommend Triple Candidates
[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Twenty-seven candidates agreed to be reviewed as successors to Constitutional Court Justices Lee Seon-ae and Lee Seok-tae, who will retire in March and April. The Supreme Court will form a candidate recommendation committee for the Constitutional Court Justices and begin the review process.
The Supreme Court announced on the 31st that, as a result of receiving nominations for Constitutional Court Justice candidates from the 6th to the 16th of this month, 27 out of 67 nominees agreed to the review. Among those who agreed to the review, 18 are judges, 7 are lawyers, and 2 are professors.
Among the incumbent judges who agreed to the review are Kang Min-gu, Chief Judge of Seoul High Court (64, Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 14), Kwak Byung-su, Judge of Daegu High Court (55, Class 25), Kim Kwang-tae, President of Seoul High Court (61, Class 15), Kim Yong-bin, Director of Judicial Research and Training Institute (63, Class 16), Kim Yong-seok, President of the Patent Court (59, Class 16), Kim In-gyeom, President of Seoul Family Court (59, Class 18), Kim Hyung-doo, Deputy Chief of the Court Administration Office (57, Class 19), Kim Heung-jun, Chief Judge of Seoul High Court (61, Class 17), Noh Kyung-pil, Senior Chief Judge of Suwon High Court (58, Class 23), Baek Kang-jin, Chief Judge of Gwangju High Court Jeonju Branch (53, Class 23), Son Bong-gi, Chief Judge of Daegu District Court (57, Class 22), Oh Jae-sung, President of Jeonju District Court (58, Class 21), Wang Jeong-ok, Judge of Suwon High Court (53, Class 25), Jung Gye-seon, Chief Judge of Seoul Southern District Court (53, Class 27), Jung Jeong-mi, Judge of Daejeon High Court (53, Class 25), Han Chang-hoon, President of Chuncheon District Court (58, Class 18), Ham Sang-hoon, Chief Judge of Seoul High Court (55, Class 21), and Ham Seok-cheon, Chief Judge of Daejeon District Court (53, Class 25).
Among the lawyers are Moon Heung-soo, lawyer at Law Firm Hwang & C (66, Class 11), Lee Seung-taek, lawyer at Law Firm Insight (58, Class 22), Lee Heon Hongik, lawyer at Law Firm Hongik (61, Class 16), Lee Heung-rak, lawyer at Law Firm Logos (59, Class 23), Jeon Hyun-jung, lawyer at Law Firm KCL (56, Class 22), Choi Cheol-hwan, lawyer at Kim & Chang (59, Class 23), and Han Seok-hoon, lawyer at Law Firm Woori (65, Class 18). Also included among the candidates are Park Jin-young, professor at Kyung Hee University Law School (54, Class 25), and Ha Myung-ho, professor at Korea University Law School (54, Class 22).
The Supreme Court plans to collect substantive opinions on the candidates from the 1st to the 14th of next month and deliver them to the recommendation committee. The candidate recommendation committee consists of nine members: ex officio members include Senior Justice Cho Jae-yeon, Director of the Court Administration Office Kim Sang-hwan, President of the Korean Bar Association Lee Jong-yeop, President of the Korean Association of Law Professors Cho Hong-sik, Chairman of the Association of Law Schools Lee Sang-kyung; external members among the non-ex officio members are former National Human Rights Commission Chairperson Choi Young-ae, Professor Shim Seok-tae of Semyung University Graduate School of Journalism, and Professor Yang Hyun-ah of Seoul National University Law School. Kang Jae-won, Chief Judge of Uijeongbu District Court, was appointed as a judge member who is not a Supreme Court Justice.
The recommendation committee will review the qualifications of the candidates for Constitutional Court Justice based on nomination letters, opinion letters, and various verification materials, and recommend more than three times the number of candidates to be appointed. Subsequently, Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo will nominate the candidates for Justice.
Among the nine Constitutional Court Justices and the President, 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.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
