헌법재판소의 독립성 증진에 관한 소고

Abstract

Constitutional Court celebrated its 35th anniversary in this year. Since the introduction of the Constitutional Court system in 1987 and the enactment of the Constitutional Court Act in 1988, the Constitutional Court has been in the center of public criticism and political events, but has played an independent role as the final institution for constitutional interpretation. For the Constitutional Court, which is bound to be in a tense relationship with politics, the guarantee of independence should be stronger than any other state institution so that it can fulfill its role as the last bastion of constitutional protection and guaranteeing basic rights. Nevertheless, the current composition method shows a structure contrary to the principles of democratic legitimacy and professionalism, which are the principles of the Constitutional Court, causing problems that hinder the promotion of independence. Constitutional scholars have consistently pointed out issues related to this since the establishment of the Constitutional Court system, but hopes for reform were only intermittent. Time has passed without any significant change, and now discussions on how to organize, one of the pillars of the independence of the Constitutional Court, have been dismissed as a rather dull topic. However, at a time when interest in the Constitutional Court is currently highlighted, it is necessary to re-examine the independence of the Constitutional Court. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to ignite the reform of the Constitutional Court by devising practical improvement measures other than revision based on literature research. As a result, the appointment system reaffirmed the discussion on the need for constitutional amendment and examined detailed improvement plans. In the case of the qualification system issue, it was set as the qualification of constitutional judges in academia, but it was concluded that additional discourse on detailed realization measures was needed. Therefore, the transition period of the improvement process was presented in its own way by using the legal professional development process of the law school. We must continue to pay attention to the Constitutional Court so that it can defend the Constitution and liberal democracy as a fair judge. If the constitutional interpretation is provided that the members of the public can understand based on the fairness and objectivity of the composition outside the Constitutional Court, the credibility of the Constitutional Court can be increased even though it is inseparable from politics and ideology in nature.