Constitutional Court Rejects First Ever Prosecutor Impeachment... "No Grounds to Justify Dismissal"

5 Judges Dismissed, 4 Judges Accepted... Impeachment Requires Agreement of 6 Judges
Acceptance Opinion "Prosecution Filed with Intent to Cause Disadvantage... Strict Warning Needed"

The Constitutional Court dismissed the National Assembly's impeachment motion against Andongwan, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Busan District Prosecutors' Office (age 53, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 32), who was suspected of retaliatory prosecution in connection with the 'Seoul City Public Official Spy Fabrication' case. This is the first time the Constitutional Court has made a decision regarding a prosecutor's impeachment case.

Chief Justice Lee Jong-seok of the Constitutional Court and other constitutional justices are attending the May judgment announcement held at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 30th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

On the 30th, the Constitutional Court dismissed the impeachment motion against Prosecutor An with a 5 (dismissal) to 4 (acceptance) vote. Following the dismissal of the impeachment motion, Prosecutor An will immediately return to his duties.

In May 2014, Prosecutor An additionally indicted Yoo Woosung, a Seoul city public official, on charges of remitting money to North Korea (violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act). Yoo was found guilty of both violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and obstruction of official duties by deception in the first trial. However, while the obstruction of official duties charge was upheld, the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act violation was overturned in the appellate court with a dismissal of the indictment, stating there was no valid reason to reverse the decision to suspend prosecution. The prosecution appealed, but the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. This was the first case recognizing abuse of prosecutorial power.

Among the five justices who voted to dismiss, Justices Lee Youngjin, Kim Hyungdoo, and Jung Hyungsik judged that Prosecutor An did not violate the law. The three justices stated, "The fact that the indictment in this case was ultimately deemed illegal by the Supreme Court does not immediately mean that the respondent (Prosecutor An) violated any official duty."

Chief Justice Lee Jongseok and Justice Lee Eunae agreed that Prosecutor An violated the law but did not consider it serious enough to warrant impeachment.

Justices Lee Jongseok and Lee Eunae stated, "If the prosecutor had carefully decided whether to indict Yoo for violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, it could have been concluded that the indictment was an abuse of authority. It is difficult to see that the respondent violated the law with an active intent to go against the legal order or that he attempted to exercise state criminal power against the substantive truth by manipulating related materials. Therefore, there is no reason to justify dismissal."

On the other hand, Justices Kim Kiyoung, Moon Hyungbae, Lee Miseon, and Jung Jungmi expressed the opinion that Prosecutor An should be dismissed. However, since dismissal of a public official requires the consent of six or more justices, the impeachment motion was dismissed.

The four justices stated, "The respondent filed the indictment with the intent to cause substantial disadvantage to Yoo. It is necessary to sternly warn to restore the violated constitutional order and to prevent recurrence of constitutional violations by prosecutors. The constitutional protection gained by dismissal overwhelmingly outweighs the national loss caused by dismissing the prosecutor."