of law by the President. (negative)
13. Whether or not the political chaos and economic disruption caused
by the unfaithful performance of the official duties and reckless
management of the state affairs can be a subject matter for an
impeachment adjudication at the Constitutional Court. (negative)
14. Whether or not the "valid ground for the petition for impeachment
adjudication" set forth in Section 1, Article 53 of the Constitutional
Court Act is limited to a grave violation of law. (affirmative)
15. The standard of review to be applied in determining the "gravity
of the violation of law".
16. Whether or not the President should be removed from office where,
as in the instant case, there is no finding of the President's
active intent against the constitutional order in his specific acts
of violations of law. (negative)
17. Whether or not the separate opinions may be disclosed at the
impeachment adjudication proceeding. (negative)
Summary of the Decision
1. The Constitutional Court, as a judicial institution, is restrained
in principle to the grounds for impeachment stated in the National
Assembly's impeachment resolution.
Therefore, no other grounds
for impeachment than those stated in the impeachment resolution
may constitute the subject matter to be adjudicated by the Constitutional Court at the impeachment adjudication proceeding. However,
with respect to the 'determination on legal provisions,' the violation
of which is alleged in the impeachment resolution, the Constitutional
Court in principle is not bound thereby. Therefore, the Constitutional
Court may determine the facts that led to the impeachment based on
other relevant legal provisions as well as the legal provisions which
the petitioner alleges have been violated. Also, the Constitutional
Court is not bound by the structure of the grounds for impeachment
as categorized by the National Assembly in its impeachment resolution
in determining the grounds for impeachment. Therefore, the question
of in which relations the grounds for impeachment are legally examined
is absolutely for the Constitutional Court to determine.
2. The principle of due process is a legal principle that, before a
decision is made by the governmental power, entitles a citizen who
might be prejudiced by such a decision to an opportunity to express
his or her opinion and thereby influence the process of the proceedings
and the result thereof. In this case, the impeachment proceeding at
the National Assembly concerns two constitutional institutions of the
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