There are growing concerns that the prolonged vacancy may continue because the President and the Chief Justice reportedly disagree on the appointment, while another Supreme Court justice, Lee Heung-gu, is also set to retire this September.
Reporter Bang Jun-hyuk reports.
In January, the Supreme Court Justice Recommendation Committee recommended four judges to the Chief Justice as successors to former Justice Noh Tae-ak.
Normally, once recommendations are submitted, the Chief Justice nominates one final candidate to the President within about two weeks. However, Chief Justice Cho has still not made a nomination even after more than three months.
It is reported that Chief Justice Cho informed the presidential office that he intended to nominate High Court Judge Park Soon-young, but the presidential office has continued insisting on High Court Judge Kim Min-ki, resulting in a deadlock.
<Ki Woo-jong / Acting Director of the National Court Administration (April 22)>
“There is supposed to be a consultation process in the nomination procedure, but it seems the consultations are not going well.”
The situation is becoming even more complicated with Justice Lee Heung-gu’s retirement approaching in September.
Since successor recommendation notices are usually announced three to four months before retirement, the Supreme Court is expected to begin the selection process for Lee’s replacement as early as this month.
To avoid having two vacant seats simultaneously, there is discussion of the Chief Justice nominating two candidates at once. However, several issues remain unresolved, such as whether a new recommendation committee must be formed and whether the existing four recommended candidates can also be considered for Justice Lee’s replacement.
Currently, the Supreme Court has left the position of Head of Court Administration vacant and assigned all Supreme Court justices to judicial duties. As of 2024, each justice handled around 3,000 cases annually.
If the number of vacancies increases to two, disruptions to the operation of the full bench are considered unavoidable.
Previously, during the vacancy crisis following the retirement of former Chief Justice Kim Myeong-soo in 2023, the Supreme Court’s en banc hearings were also unable to operate with a full complement of justices, and the backlog of smaller panel cases worsened.
The Supreme Court stated only that “nothing has been decided yet,” while declining further comment.
This is Bang Jun-hyuk for Yonhap News TV.
Posted by Freewhale98