The Constitutional Court decided to announce its ruling on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol at 11 a.m. on the 4th. The court's ruling document consists of the order containing conclusions such as 'dismissed,' 'denied,' and 'granted', and the reasons that support these conclusions.
In the legal community, there is a saying that you can tell whether the eight Constitutional Court judges have a unanimous opinion just by looking at the order of reading the ruling document. Why is that?
According to the Constitutional Court's practical guide published on the 1st, the method of announcing the ruling varies depending on whether the judges' opinions are unanimous. In the case of a unanimous opinion, the summary of the reasons is explained first, and then the order is read later. However, in cases of non-unanimous opinions, the presiding judge informs that there are dissenting or separate opinions and reads the order first, followed by the summary of the reasons.
In fact, there have been many cases where the Constitutional Court's ruling has been announced in this manner. In 2017, the court issued a ruling of 'removal' with a unanimous opinion from all eight judges in the impeachment trial of former President Park Geun-hye. At that time, Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi explained the progress of the impeachment trial and the reasons for the removal before stating, 'Order. The respondent, President Park Geun-hye, is removed.' Following this, some judges read their supplementary opinions. The entire announcement took 20 minutes and 46 seconds.
In contrast, on the 24th of last month, the court decided to 'dismiss' with a vote of 5 for dismissal, 2 for dismissal, and 1 for granting in the impeachment trial of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. There was no unanimous opinion reached. At that time, Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae read the order first. Then, one judge each presenting opinions of dismissal, granting, and dismissal read them aloud in court over a period of approximately 5 to 8 minutes.
However, it is not mandatory to strictly follow this order of announcement. One legal professional noted, 'The order of announcement is not legally fixed,' and added, 'Constitutional Court judges can determine the order of announcement collectively.'