Constitutional Adjudication in Korea

The Court

Created by the 1987 constitution and opened in 1988, the Court has nine justices appointed by the President, three elected by the National Assembly and three nominated by the Chief Justice. Striking down a statute, impeachment, party dissolution, upholding a complaint or overruling precedent requires six votes (Art. 113).

Five jurisdictions (Art. 111)

• Review of statutes on referral by ordinary courts; unconstitutional statutes lose effect prospectively (criminal provisions retroactively).
• Impeachment of officials indicted by the Assembly, e.g. the 2017 removal of the President.
• Dissolution of political parties on government petition, e.g. the Unified Progressive Party in 2014.
• Competence disputes between state organs and local governments.
• Constitutional complaints by individuals whose rights are infringed by state power (Art. 68(1)) or after a denied referral motion (Art. 68(2)); court judgments are generally excluded and other remedies must be exhausted.

Variant decisions

Besides simple unconstitutionality, the Court issues decisions of nonconformity, limited unconstitutionality and limited constitutionality, often applying the proportionality test.

References

1. 「대한민국헌법」 제111조~제113조.
2. 「헌법재판소법」.
3. 헌법재판소 2017. 3. 10. 2016헌나1 결정.
4. 헌법재판소 2014. 12. 19. 2013헌다1 결정.
5. 성낙인. (2024). 『헌법학』(제24판). 법문사.