Constitutional Court to Review Appeal Filed by Senior Prosecutor Against Public Prosecution Service Act

A constitutional complaint filed by a senior official at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, arguing that the Public Prosecution Service Act is unconstitutional for failing to guarantee his term, has been referred to the Constitutional Court for a formal review.
The designated panel of the Constitutional Court decided today (June 30) to refer the constitutional complaint filed by Kim Seong-dong, Head of the Inspection Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor), to a full-bench trial. The complaint challenges the provision in the Public Prosecution Service Act that excludes prosecutors with fixed terms from being transitioned into the new Public Prosecution Service.
A decision has not yet been reached regarding the accompanying injunction, which seeks to suspend the effect of the provision and secure his interim status.
On June 17, Chief Prosecutor Kim filed the constitutional complaint, arguing that the provision in the Public Prosecution Service Act amounts to the National Assembly directly ordering the dismissal and retirement of specific civil servants within the executive branch, which violates the constitutional principle of separation of powers.
Paragraph 2 of Article 7 of the Addenda to the Public Prosecution Service Act stipulates that "prosecutors of the former Prosecutors' Office shall be deemed prosecutors of the Public Prosecution Service."
However, it includes an exception clause that excludes "prosecutors with fixed terms."
Under the Public Prosecutors' Office Act, the only prosecutors with fixed terms are the Prosecutor General and the Head of the Inspection Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. As the position of Prosecutor General is currently vacant and unlikely to be filled before the Public Prosecution Service Act takes effect, this provision effectively applies only to the Head of the Inspection Division.
The term for the Head of the Inspection Division, a position equivalent to a Chief Prosecutor, is set at two years.
Chief Prosecutor Kim, who was appointed in May of last year before the Lee Jae-myung administration took office, has a term that runs until May 18 of next year. However, if the current Public Prosecution Service Act goes into effect on October 2, he would be dismissed from his position and lose his status as a prosecutor.
Chief Prosecutor Kim argued, "There is no rational basis for excluding only prosecutors who are Heads of the Inspection Division with guaranteed terms from the transition, and this constitutes discrimination that infringes upon the right to equality."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.