Chief Justice Jo Hee-de said at a Law Day ceremony on the 24th that for the rule of law to function properly, the freedoms and rights of the people must be substantively guaranteed throughout the entire process, from legislation to enforcement, interpretation, and adjudication.
Attending the 63rd Law Day ceremony at EL Tower in Yangjae-dong, Seoul, that day, the chief justice said, "For the rule of law to be fully realized, it must be underpinned by the public's firm trust that in every process—from the enactment and revision of laws to their application and enforcement, and to interpretation and judgment—the freedoms and rights of the people are substantively guaranteed and equality and justice are concretely achieved."
He added, "To lay the groundwork for the people to truly respect the law and trust the rule of law, those of us in the legal profession must take the lead in respecting and complying with the law, and we must continually ask ourselves and reflect on whether we are faithfully fulfilling our respective duties assigned by the Constitution and the laws."
The chief justice also said, "We must always guard against allowing the rule of law to settle into formal legalism that stops at procedural legality, or to drift into a belief that all social conflicts can be resolved by law alone," adding, "The judiciary is keenly aware of its grave duty to realize substantive legalism, and we will devote all our capabilities to ensuring that the law becomes a solid bulwark that protects human dignity, values, and justice."
Kim Sang-hwan, president of the Constitutional Court, also noted in congratulatory remarks at the ceremony, "The recently introduced system of constitutional complaints requires all legal professionals to recognize more clearly the Constitution's supreme normativity and to reflect on their own judgments with greater humility through the 'lens of the Constitution,'" adding, "This means the weight of responsibility borne by the Constitutional Court has become all the more grave."
Kim said, "Through constitutional adjudication, it is the essential mission assigned to the court to constantly guard against state power straying beyond the bounds of the Constitution and, when the fundamental rights of the people are violated, to correct this and restore the constitutional order to its rightful place."