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Minister Miae Choo and President Seokyeol Yoon▶ Click here to enlarge
One day before the second meeting of the Prosecutor’s Disciplinary Committee, where the disciplinary status and level of disciplinary action against Attorney General Yoon Seok-yeol will be decided, a last-minute battle is unfolding between Justice Minister Choo Mi- ae and President Yoon.
According to the legal community on the 14th, the Ministry of Justice will enter into the deliberation of the second disciplinary committee against Yoon at 10:30 am on the 15th. In the second deliberation, the witnesses adopted in the first meeting are questioned. a final statement of opinion by the group of special lawyers and the process of discussion and resolution of the committee is carried out.
The disciplinary committee adopted a total of eight witnesses, including Shim Jae-cheol, the Prosecutor’s Office, at the Ministry of Justice under the authority of the seven witnesses requested by President Yoon. The disciplinary committee is known to have a policy of deciding whether or not to punish President Yun in deliberation.
Deputy Head of the Disciplinary Committee Jeong Han-jung said, “I think I can judge enough because the data has already been presented,” he said. “However, I received all the witnesses in case President Yoon’s side disputed justice.”
He hoped: “Some of the witnesses will not appear, and if the committee members drastically omit unnecessary matters from the lawyer’s questioning, the deliberation will soon be over.”
Among the witnesses from President Yoon’s side, three others, including the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, Lee Seong-yoon, the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office, Han Dong-soo, and Deputy Prosecutor Jeong Jin-woong, are expected to be absent. . The disciplinary committee says that only members of the disciplinary committee can question witnesses and does not give the authority to question President Yoon directly.
As a result, President Yoon protests that the procedures are unfair.
Yoon said, “According to the Prosecutor’s Disciplinary Law, giving a party the right to present evidence and request witnesses without giving them the right to ask questions ignores basic principles of due process.”
President Yoon’s part argues that the composition of the committee at the time of the first deliberation also had legal flaws and that the deliberation should be repeated from the beginning.
According to the Prosecutor’s Discipline Law, the disciplinary committee consists of seven members, including the president, and on the same day, the Minister of Justice, Choo Mi-ae, was withdrawn as a disciplinary plaintiff, for which it is argued that a reserve member must be added to fill all seven members.
Based on the provisions of the law that “they have three preliminary members,” Yoon also plans to request the release of information by asking if and when the current disciplinary committee has selected a reserve member.
However, the disciplinary committee is faced with saying that Minister Chu’s membership is recognized as it is, and deliberation can be started if the “majority attendance” condition is met even without appointing a reserve member.
As there is not enough time until the second deliberation, it is expected that President Yoon’s side will make every effort to raise the issue that day. The disciplinary committee is also expected to actively refute President Yoon’s opinion so as not to lose the initiative for the second deliberation.
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