 |
| Park Han-chul, center, president of the Constitutional Court, and other judges sit before making a ruling on a petition submitted by the Unified Progressive Party, central Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap |
By Kim Da-ye
The Constitutional Court on Tuesday turned down a petition by the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party (UPP) to follow criminal law while deliberating a case filed for the dissolution of the leftist party.
The UPP filed a constitutional petition on Jan. 7, arguing that it is unconstitutional to apply civil law during proceedings on the case, brought by the Ministry of Justice, to dissolve the left-wing party.
Under article 40 of the Constitution, the court applies the civil law to trials held there with the exception of special cases. Impeachment of a president is one such exception when the court should follow the criminal procedure act.
The left-wing party's lawyers argued that the trial for dissolution of a political party resembles an impeachment and therefore should follow criminal law which requires the provision of more solid evidence for a case to be established.
Lee Jae-hwa, an attorney for the UPP, said in a statement, "Even if the court follows civil law, we expect stricter procedures including not taking documents written alone by the National Intelligence Service as evidence."
The court also dismissed another petition filed by the UPP against article 57 of the Constitutional Court Act, which gives the court the right to suspend activities of a political party before it makes a ruling on the case.
The constitutional court said that the article is also constitutional, leaving the possibility of suspending the UPP's activities.
The Ministry of Justice has already requested an injunction against the party, but the court is yet to make a decision.
The ministry asked the court last year to break up the minority party after Lee Seok-ki, a UPP lawmaker, was arrested on charges of plotting to overthrow the government in an armed insurrection. The ministry argued that the party's goals and activities are against the ideals of the constitution.
On Feb. 17, Lee was sentenced to 12 years in prison for conspiring in an underground organization called Revolutionary Organization (RO) to stage an insurrection in the event of an invasion by North Korea.
Lee and other convicted member of the UPP appealed the Suwon District Court's decision on Feb. 21.
The key to deciding on the dissolution of the party by the Constitutional Court will be proving the connection between Lee and RO's activities and the UPP.
On Feb. 18, a day after the ruling on Lee, the Constitutional Court held a second hearing with four constitutional experts
Experts for the justice ministry argued that the UPP's pursuit of "progressive democracy," which the ministry says is in line with the North Korean ideology, is against the constitution even if the party has not poised any significant dangers to society yet.
The constitution law professors for the UPP said that crushing a minor political party for promoting a different ideology will cause long-term damages to democracy and diversity.
![[ANALYSIS] Tesla, BYD's price cuts unnerve LGES, Samsung, SK](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/b1cf8ba68d474cb69352bfe7ea9d14f0.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] How ATEEZ achieved worldwide success](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/c7723b56dde94eb4b260950d368fe8fb.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
