Jurisdiction
Bench and Quorum
Full Bench
The Full Bench consists of all nine Justices. Unless provided otherwise in the Constitutional Court Act, all adjudications of the Court shall be assigned to the Full Bench. The President of the Constitutional Court shall preside over the Full Bench, taking charge of the adjudication such as correction requests.
Panels
The Constitutional Court may establish Panels consisting of three Justices. Currently, the Court operates three Panels. The Panels are responsible for prior review of a constitutional complaint. They have the authority to dismiss a request for judgment on a constitutional complaint when they unanimously decide that the request is inadmissible.
Quorum
The Full Bench shall review a case with the attendance of seven or more Justices and make a decision on a case by the majority vote of Justices participating in the final discussion. However, six or more Justices’ votes are required in cases falling under any of the following: a decision of unconstitutionality of a statute; impeachment; dissolution of a political party; upholding a constitutional complaint; and, overruling the precedent on interpretation and application of the Constitution or laws made by the Constitutional Court.
Unless a Panel unanimously decides to dismiss a constitutional complaint that is found inadmissible, they shall decide to transfer the case to the Full Bench. When a dismissal is not decided within 30 days after the request was made, it shall be deemed that a decision to transfer it to the Full Bench has been made.
Exclusion, Recusal and Evasion
When the Justice is a party or relative of a party; when the Justice was involved in the case outside of the Constitutional Court by reason of his duties or profession, the Justice shall be excluded from the execution of the Justice’s services. If it is found difficult to expect impartiality of a Justice in certain circumstances, a party may move to recuse the Justice. The Justice may evade the case with the permission of the presiding Justice when he/she has grounds for exclusion and recusal.
