National Assembly Legal Team: "Same Facts... Intend to Reconstruct According to Constitutional Court Procedures"
Regarding the exclusion of the criminal charge of ‘treason’ from the impeachment trial, the prosecution team from the National Assembly strongly refuted President Yoon Seok-yeol’s side’s claim that this constitutes a ‘ground for dismissal,’ stating, “It means reorganizing the case to fit the constitutional trial procedure, not that the reason of national disorder has been omitted.”
On the afternoon of the 7th, lawyers Kim Jin-han and Jang Soon-wook, among others, stated at a press conference held at the Korean Bar Association in Seocho-gu, Seoul, “The core content of the impeachment resolution still includes acts of treason.”
The prosecution team said, “The accusation of national disorder caused by the leader of the treason has not been changed by a single word,” and “There is no change in the fact that all acts of treason are subject to judgment.” They added, “The National Assembly records the specific acts of national disorder as grounds for impeachment, that is, the factual circumstances, so the charge of treason has not been excluded from the impeachment grounds at all.”
Lawyer Jang stated, “The impeachment trial is not a criminal trial but a constitutional trial, so it is being reorganized to fit the procedure.” He gave the example of a school violence case. Just as a school holds a school violence committee when a perpetrator assaults a victim, the committee only decides on disciplinary measures such as expulsion or transfer, and does not determine whether the assault charge is established.
It was explained that the Constitutional Court also only judges whether to impeach, not whether the criminal charge of treason is established. If the Constitutional Court accepts the National Assembly’s request, the factual issues related to the emergency martial law will still be contested, but the court will not judge the establishment of the criminal charge of treason. Instead, it will determine whether President Yoon violated various constitutional duties.
The National Assembly side explained that the reason for this decision was to ensure a ‘swift impeachment trial.’ The prosecution team stated, “If the charge of treason is also subject to judgment, the impeachment trial procedure will inevitably be significantly delayed.” They emphasized, “This issue is an act that has restored our country’s democracy for at least 50 years,” and “There is no division between ruling and opposition parties or between progressives and conservatives on this matter. We will do our best in the trial with the heart of protecting the country.”
Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court stated at a briefing on the same day that the controversy over the ‘withdrawal of the treason charge’ is entirely a matter for the court to decide.
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