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Former Chief Judge Lim Seong-geun, who was suspected of being involved in judicial non-judgment during the days of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae, was indicted on charges of interfering in the trial in 2019. Last year, he was acquitted in the first trial, but in February of this year, the National Assembly requested the Constitutional Court to impeach a judge for the first time in constitutional history, asking for the removal of Deputy Judge Im Seong-geun. However, not long after that, former Chief Justice Lim retired after his tenure expired, and the Constitutional Court today (28th) made a decision to dismiss the request for an impeachment trial.
Reporter Hyung-an Son will explain what this means.
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Constitutional Court dismissed the first judge's impeachment trial in history after eight months of hearing.
Your dismissal means that you will not be adjudicated because the requirements for the request for an impeachment trial have not been met.
Five out of nine judges expressed the opinion that the dismissal itself was impossible because former Chief Justice Im Seong-geun retired due to the expiration of his term during the impeachment trial.
On the other hand, three judges argued that the request for an impeachment trial should be accepted.
Intervention in the trial is a serious violation of the Constitution, regardless of whether former Chief Justice Im retired or not, and there is a reason for requesting an impeachment trial.
One other judge said that the impeachment trial process should be terminated and that it could not be dismissed.
After the sentencing, the petitioner, the National Assembly, expressed regret, saying that the Constitutional Court had evaded judgment on the merits.
[Park Jumin/Rep. of the Democratic Party: At least I expected that they would give a constitutional evaluation of Judge Im Seong-geun's actions, but it is very disappointing that it was not.]
Former Chief Judge Lim Seong-geun said that it respects the judgment of the Constitutional Court.
[Representative Dong-Hup Lee/Seong-Geun Lim: First of all, I would like to pay tribute to the court of the Constitutional Court for drawing a reasonable conclusion in accordance with the legal principles.] The
Solidarity for Participation and Minbyun criticized that the Constitutional Court's dismissal of the impeachment trial request was an indulgence of judicial nongdan. .
Aside from the Constitutional Court's decision, the criminal trial in which former Chief Judge Im was acquitted in both the first and second trials is awaiting the final decision of the Supreme Court.
(Video coverage: Kang Dong-cheol, video editing: Kim Jong-tae)