The president of the Constitutional Court of Korea () is the chief justice of the Constitutional Court of Korea. As presiding judge of a full bench composed of nine justices, the president represents the Constitutional Court of Korea.
The president of the Constitutional Court of Korea is regarded as one of two equivalent heads of judicial branch in Government of South Korea. The second is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Korea. The equivalent status of the president of the Constitutional Court to the chief justice is guaranteed by article 15 of Constitutional Court Act. Kim Sang-hwan is the current president of the Constitutional Court of Korea.
Appointment Under chapter 6, article 111(4) of Constitution and article 12(1) of Constitutional Court Act, the president of the Constitutional Court of Korea is appointed by the president of South Korea from among the nine justices of Constitutional Court, with the consent of the National Assembly of South Korea.
Since the president is selected among nine justices, and the article 112(1) of Constitution states that the 'term of the Justices shall be renewable six years' yet does not precisely state the exact length of a president's term, the presidents who were newly appointed as both justice and the president at the same time can serve a full six-year term, though the presidents who were appointed while serving as a Constitutional Court justice can only serve the remainder of their six-year term as justice.For example, the fifth President Park Han-chul served shorter than six years as president as from April 2013 to January 2017, since he started his term as Constitutional Court Justice earlier in February 2011. See It is noteworthy that no president has tried to renew their term because it could harm the independence of the court and judiciary. Under article 7(2) of Constitutional Court Act, the president cannot be older than age 70 as other justices.
Duties The president's main role is participating in judgment of the court as one of nine Constitutional Court justices. According to article 22 of Constitutional Court Act, every cases shall be assigned to the Full bench () composed of all nine Constitutional Court justices in principle. In this case, the president becomes presiding judge following article 22(2) of the act. However, some cases can be dismissed in pre-trial stage, due to lack of claim upon which relief can be granted. Whether or not to dismiss in pre-trial stage is called 'prior review ()' under article 72(1) and 72(3) of the act and is decided unanimously by a panel () which consists of three Constitutional Court justices. As there are three panels in the court, the president is also part of one panel
Another role of the president is to supervise judicial administration inside the court. Since the Constitutional Court of Korea has no lower courts, as it is designed to be the one and only court to rule on important constitutional cases including judicial review, its volume of administration tasks is smaller than that of Supreme Court Chief Justice. Likewise, the president has no power to intervene in the appointment of other Constitutional Court justices, while the Supreme Court chief justice can intervene in appointments due to his power to recommend candidates for Supreme Court justices. This difference attenuates the hierarchical aspect within the Constitutional Court, granting more substantial power on Council of Constitutional Court to the justices () rather than the president.
The president serves as chair at the Council of Constitutional Court justices, composed of all nine Constitutional Court justices including the president, which supervises administrative tasks of the court under article 17 of Constitutional Court Act. The president appoints secretary general and the deputy of Department of Court Administration () with consent of the Council under article 16(4) of Constitutional Court Act, which supervises administrative tasks inside the court under 17 of the act. The president also appoints Rapporteur Judges (, who have a similar role as French Conseiller référendaire) and court officials above grade III with consent of the Council under article 16(4) of Constitutional Court Act. Otherwise, appointment of court officials below grade III does not necessarily require consent of the council. The president present written opinions to the National Assembly, on enacting or revising laws related to administration of the Constitutional Court, under article 10-2 of Constitutional Court Act.
List of presidents
No. Name TenureAppointed byEducation 1 Cho Kyu-kwang 15 September 1988 14 September 1994Roh Tae-wooSeoul National University 2 Kim Yong-joon 15 September 1994 14 September 2000Kim Young-samSeoul National University 3 Yun Young-chul 15 September 2000 14 September 2006Kim Dae-jungSeoul National University -Choo Sun-hoe (acting president)15 September 200621 January 2007following the retirement of president Yun Young-chulKorea University 4 Lee Kang-kook 22 January 2007 21 January 2013Roh Moo-hyunSeoul National University -Song Doo-hwan (acting president)22 January 201322 March 2013following the retirement of president Lee Kang-kookSeoul National University -Lee Jung-mi (acting president)23 March 201311 April 2013following the retirement of justice Song Doo-hwanKorea University 5 Park Han-chul 12 April 2013 31 January 2017Park Geun-hyeSeoul National University -Lee Jung-mi (acting president)1 February 201713 March 2017following the retirement of president Park Han-chulKorea University -Kim Yi-su (acting president)14 March 201723 November 2017following the retirement of justice Lee Jung-miSeoul National University 6 Lee Jin-sung 24 November 2017 19 September 2018Moon Jae-inSeoul National University 7 Yoo Nam-seok 21 September 2018 10 November 2023 Moon Jae-inSeoul National University - Lee Eunae (acting president) 11 November 2023 29 November 2023 following the retirement of the president Yoo Nam-seok Seoul National University 8 Lee Jong-seok 30 November 2023 17 October 2024 Yoon Suk-yeol Seoul National University - Moon Hyungbae (acting president) 18 October 2024 17 April 2025 following the retirement of the president Lee Jong-seokSeoul National University -Kim Hyungdu (acting president)18 April 202523 July 2025following the retirement of the president Moon HyungbaeSeoul National University 9 Kim Sang-hwan 24 July 2025 Incumbent Lee Jae Myung Seoul National University
See also Constitutional Court of Korea Judiciary of South Korea Rapporteur Judge
References
External links Official english website of Constitutional Court of Korea CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA, Korean Law Translation Center, Korea Legislation Research Institute CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ACT, Korean Law Translation Center, Korea Legislation Research Institute