헌법재판소구성에 관한 개선방안 - 헌법재판관선출을 중심으로 -

A Proposal for Reform on the Composition of the Constitutional Court - with an emphasis on Selection of Constitutional Court Justice -

We are facing abrupt change of judicial reform. The Constitutional Court plays an important role in this change. Some justices were replaced and other justices are going to be replaced during President Roh administration. Accordingly, we cannot emphasize desirable composition of the Constitutional Court Justice too much. The Constitutional Court shall be composed of nine Justices qualified to be court judges, and they shall be appointed by the President[Constitutional Law Article 111 paragraph (2)]. Among the Justices referred to in paragraph (2), three shall be appointed from persons selected by the National Assembly, and three appointed from persons nominated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court[Constitutional Law Article 111 paragraph (3)]. But these provisions have a lot of problems as follows. First, three Justices are nominated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme even though the president of the Constitutional Court is tantamount to Chief Justice of the Supreme. Second, six Justices of the Constitutional Court do not receive the consent of the National Assembly while all of the Justices of the Supreme Court are appointed with the consent of the National Assembly. Third, Justice qualification to be court judges neglects the characteristics of constitutional law as public law and politics relation. Accordingly, the author proposes a reform plan of the composition of the Justices of Constitutional Court. All the Justices of Constitutional Court shall be selected by the consent of the National Assembly. And at least one scholar on public law shall be selected. Also, the Justices of Constitutional Court shall be composed of those with diverse social background and diverse view of value. And finally, the term of the Justices of Constitutional Court shall be prolonged to 10 or 12 years.