The side of former President Yoon Suk-yeol filed a constitutional complaint challenging the so-called "insurrection-dedicated panel law" as unconstitutional, and the case has been referred to a full bench of the Constitutional Court. After passing the preliminary review by a designated panel, the case has moved into the merits stage.
According to legal sources on the 22nd, the Constitutional Court the previous day referred to the full bench the constitutional complaint filed by the former president's side seeking a ruling on the unconstitutionality of the "Special Act on Criminal Procedures for Crimes of Insurrection, Treason, and Rebellion." A constitutional complaint is first screened for admissibility by a designated panel of three justices, and if it is deemed fit for adjudication, it is transferred to the full bench, in which all justices participate.
The former president's side filed the constitutional complaint on the 31st of last month, arguing that all provisions of the special act are potentially unconstitutional. The law requires the Seoul Central District Court and the Seoul High Court to each establish two or more dedicated panels to exclusively hear insurrection and treason cases related to the Dec. 3 martial law.
The former president's side argues that the law leaves room for arbitrariness in the process of forming panels, thereby infringing the right to be tried by an independent and impartial judge. They also contend that constitutional fundamental rights—including the right to pursue happiness, the right to equality, the right to a trial, and the privacy and freedom of one's personal life—are infringed.
The legal team, in particular, argues regarding the trial-broadcast provision that there is a risk criminal trials will devolve from procedures that judge according to law and evidence into arenas for social evaluation. With the referral to the full bench, the Constitutional Court has begun in earnest to examine whether the special act conforms to the Constitution.
The Constitutional Court also referred to the full bench two constitutional complaints filed the previous day by the former president's side related to the special counsel act on insurrection. Earlier, the former president's side sought a referral for constitutional review from the criminal trial panel regarding the special counsel act on insurrection, but after the court dismissed it on grounds that the prerequisite relevance to the trial was not recognized, they separately filed constitutional complaints.