[Breaking] Constitutional Court Dismisses Jurisdictional Dispute Petition Against National Assembly Speaker Over Withdrawal and Refiling of Impeachment Bills for Lee Dong-gwan, Son Jun-sung, and Lee Jung-seop

In November of last year, members of the National Assembly affiliated with the Democratic Party of Korea filed an impeachment motion against former Broadcasting and Communications Commission Chairman Lee Dong-gwan and prosecutors Son Joon-sung and Lee Jung-seop, then withdrew it, and later refiled it. The Constitutional Court has ruled that the actions of National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo in accepting the refiled motion do not infringe upon the deliberation and voting rights of the People Power Party members of the National Assembly.

On the 28th, the Constitutional Court unanimously dismissed the petition for adjudication of authority dispute filed by People Power Party floor leader Yoon Jae-ok and other members against Speaker Kim.

The Constitutional Court stated regarding Speaker Kim’s acceptance of the withdrawal of the impeachment motion, "The respondent only reported to the plenary session that the impeachment motion had been filed but did not submit the motion as an agenda item to the plenary session. Therefore, the impeachment motion does not fall under the 'bills that have become agenda items in the plenary session' as per Article 90, Paragraph 2 of the National Assembly Act, and consequently, the member of the National Assembly who filed the motion may withdraw it without the consent of the plenary session."

It continued, "Therefore, the petitioners do not have the authority to deliberate or vote on whether to consent to the withdrawal of the impeachment motion, and since there is no possibility of infringement of authority based on the assumption of such authority, the petition challenging this acceptance act is inadmissible."

Furthermore, regarding the acceptance of the Democratic Party members’ refiled impeachment motion, the Constitutional Court stated, "Since the petitioners can no longer challenge the infringement of authority caused by this acceptance act, the effect of the withdrawal of the impeachment motion remains valid. Accordingly, the refiled impeachment motion does not violate the principle of non bis in idem, and there is no possibility that the declaration of approval in this case infringes upon the petitioners’ deliberation and voting rights. Therefore, the petition challenging the declaration of approval is also inadmissible."

The Democratic Party filed the impeachment motions against former Chairman Lee and prosecutors Son Joon-sung and Lee Jung-seop on November 9 last year. The three impeachment motions were reported to the plenary session on the same day, but the Democratic Party withdrew the motions the next day, November 10.

People Power Party members claimed that Speaker Kim’s acceptance of the withdrawal of the impeachment motions infringed upon the members’ deliberation and voting rights and was therefore invalid. They filed a petition for adjudication of authority dispute with the Constitutional Court on November 13 last year and requested a provisional injunction.

The refiled impeachment motions by the Democratic Party were reported to the plenary session on November 30 last year. Former Chairman Lee resigned before the impeachment motions were processed, and only the impeachment motions against the two prosecutors passed the National Assembly on December 1.