The nine-member Constitional Court currently has three vacancies. (Yonhap)
Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae said Saturday that the Constitutional Court will "conduct a swift and fair trial" after a motion for the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol was passed by the National Assembly the same day.
A meeting of the court's justices will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, he said.
Attention now turns to the proceedings, which could face difficulties in part because it is short of a full complement of justices. Only six of its nine positions are currently filled.
While having at least seven justices in attendances is ideal, it is legally possible for the court to deliberate with just six justices.
The Constitutional Court in October ruled in favor of a petition by Korea Communications Commission chief Lee Jin-sook -- currently under impeachment trial -- to temporarily suspend the Article 23-1 of the Constitutional Court Act, which says that seven or more judges are needed to deliberate a case.
The Constitutional Court has said it is "theoretically" possible to deliberate Yoon's impeachment case with just six justices.
Moon said having all the justices on the bench is not crucial for a deliberation, but said he will "have to discuss the matter" on whether six will be enough for a ruling on the president's impeachment.
But many legal experts say concluding a presidential impeachment case with six justices will be difficult to do for the Constitutional Court, considering the gravity of the matter.
Lim Ji-bong, a professor at Sogang Law School, told media Wednesday that while deliberation on Yoon's impeachment is possible with six justices, reaching a final decision on the matter wouldn't be.
"The Constitutional Court would likely not want to make the decision with six justices, because it would be a decision that would impose a tremendous political burden (on them)," he said.
Even if the Constitutional Court decides to push forward with three empty spots on the bench, this means all six of the attending judges would have to agree to confirm Yoon's departure. The law states the approval of at least six justices is needed to uphold an impeachment ruling.
Rep. Jung Cheong-rae, chair of the National Assembly's Legislative and Judiciary Committee, submits the impeachment resolution against President Yoon Suk Yeol to the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Saturday. (Yonhap)
Would personal political inclination matter?
While the Constitutional Court justices are not officially part of any political faction, they inevitably have personal inclinations.
Based on the past careers and who they were nominated by, two of the current justices of the Constitutional Court are thought to be liberals, while the four others are thought to be moderate conservatives or committed conservatives.
This also hold true for the three candidates who have not been appointed justices yet -- two recommended by the opposition are considered liberals, and the one nominated by the opposition is thought to be conservative.
It is not clear how much political inclination of each justice will factor in the actual trials, if at all. In the 2016 impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, five of the eight Constitutional Court justices were considered to be conservatives, while only two were thought to be clearly liberal. But the court reached a unanimous decision to endorse the parliamentary motion for her removal from office.
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