The Invisible Constitution in Comparative Perspective



Download 4,63 Mb.
Pdf ko'rish
bet210/366
Sana18.08.2021
Hajmi4,63 Mb.
#150519
1   ...   206   207   208   209   210   211   212   213   ...   366
Bog'liq
The Invisible Constitution in Comparative Perspective by Rosalind Dixon (editor), Adrienne Stone (editor) (z-lib.org)

Jongcheol Kim

is a judicial one which can correspond to the position of the KCC’s major-

ity opinion: whether a customary constitution is a proper form of law having 

enough justification to strike down statutes. The second one is a constitu-

tional aspect which the KCC veiled, intentionally or unintentionally, but 

it concerns the constitutional effects in terms of the separation of powers 

delegated by the sovereign people in constitutional arrangements: which is 



better positioned to fill the gap caused by, if any, constitutional abeyance, 

the National Assembly or the Constitutional Court? Why are these two 

aspects intertwined with each other? My assumption is that the reason why 

the KCC’s majority opinion lifted the controversial legal tool of customary 

constitution from the unknown expanse of constitutional theories is to take 

over the legislature’s role to represent the will of the people in the form of 

constitutional construction or review. In other words, if the answer to the 

first judicial aspect of the issue is No, the natural result of the KCC’s majority 

opinion is nothing but the usurpation of the legislative power of the National 

Assembly on political matters.

Two preliminary questions should be answered in order to get to the correct 

conclusion of the major issue. First, is it possible to identify a customary con-

stitution in a constitutional democracy with a written constitution? Second, 

if so, does the customary constitution have the same effect as the written con-

stitution? The answer to the first question may depend upon the structure of 

the written constitution, the constitutional history regarding the form of the 

constitution, and the extent of constitutional stipulation. However, the KCC’s 

majority recognized the form of customary constitution as a kind of a priori 

source of constitutional law by assuming that

notwithstanding the existence of a written constitution, it is impossible to 

completely provide a written constitution, and, in addition, the Constitution 

pursues succinctness and implication as the basic law of the nation. 

Therefore, there is room for recognizing certain matters though not written 

out in the formal code of the Constitution as unwritten constitution or cus-

tomary constitutional law. Especially, there may be certain circumstances 

where no express provision is necessarily included in the text for those mat-

ters that are self-evident or presupposed or that are general constitutional 

principles at the time of the establishment of the written constitution.

23

A lot of constitutional and legal arguments about each statement of this extract 



may arise. But since our focus is on the role of the unwritten constitution and 

23 


Ibid.

 (English translation by KCC), available at 

http://english.ccourt.go.kr/cckhome/eng/ 

decisions/majordecisions/majorDetail.do

 (last accessed on July 20, 2017).



 

Is the Invisible Constitution Really Invisible? 

331


on the consistency of the constitutional reasoning based upon this invisible 

constitution, it would be enough to mention just two major flaws here. First, 

the scope of the unwritten constitution explained by the majority is not cau-

tious enough to be persuasive. The majority opinion made a great effort to 

include “those matters that are self-evident or presupposed or that are gen-

eral constitutional principles at the time of the establishment of the written 

constitution,” so that it can take advantage of the reliable effect inherent in 

such universal principles in the course of justification for a customary consti-

tution with no reliable image. As I have argued in challenging Tribe’s “genu-

inely invisible” principles previously, those self-evident principles cannot be 

regarded as an “unwritten constitution,” but as the written constitution itself. 

They are the very base upon which constitutional text is written. They are 

“invisible” because they are too obvious to deny. Therefore, they should not 

be abused or misused to justify the constitutional value of a controversial con-

ception of customary constitution that is by nature the result of constitutional 

practice and interpretation.

Second, even if a customary constitution could be regarded as a priori 

source of law, further justifications would be required to give it the same sta-

tus as the written constitution. The majority moved on to undertake this task 

as follows:

[As] the citizens of the Republic of Korea are the holders of the sovereignty 

of the Republic of Korea and of the highest authority to establish the consti-

tution, the citizens not only participate in the establishment and the revision 

of the written constitution, but also may directly form as necessary constitu-

tional law matters that are not included in the text of the written constitu-

tion, in the form of customs. Then, the customary constitutional law should 

be deemed as the expression of intent of the constitutional determination 

of the citizens as the holders of sovereignty, like the written constitution,  

and should also be deemed to have the same force as that of the written 

constitution . . . The principle of sovereignty or democracy requires the par-

ticipation of the citizens in the establishment of the positive law, written or 

customary, in the entirety, and the customary constitutional law established 

by the people binds the legislator and has the force as constitutional law.

24

The majority of the KCC reached the conclusion that a priori recognition of 



a customary constitution can be justified by the people’s sovereignty that also 

provides a justification for the customary constitution’s status having the same 

effect as the written constitution.

24 


Ibid.


332 


Download 4,63 Mb.

Do'stlaringiz bilan baham:
1   ...   206   207   208   209   210   211   212   213   ...   366




Ma'lumotlar bazasi mualliflik huquqi bilan himoyalangan ©hozir.org 2024
ma'muriyatiga murojaat qiling

kiriting | ro'yxatdan o'tish
    Bosh sahifa
юртда тантана
Боғда битган
Бугун юртда
Эшитганлар жилманглар
Эшитмадим деманглар
битган бодомлар
Yangiariq tumani
qitish marakazi
Raqamli texnologiyalar
ilishida muhokamadan
tasdiqqa tavsiya
tavsiya etilgan
iqtisodiyot kafedrasi
steiermarkischen landesregierung
asarlaringizni yuboring
o'zingizning asarlaringizni
Iltimos faqat
faqat o'zingizning
steierm rkischen
landesregierung fachabteilung
rkischen landesregierung
hamshira loyihasi
loyihasi mavsum
faolyatining oqibatlari
asosiy adabiyotlar
fakulteti ahborot
ahborot havfsizligi
havfsizligi kafedrasi
fanidan bo’yicha
fakulteti iqtisodiyot
boshqaruv fakulteti
chiqarishda boshqaruv
ishlab chiqarishda
iqtisodiyot fakultet
multiservis tarmoqlari
fanidan asosiy
Uzbek fanidan
mavzulari potok
asosidagi multiservis
'aliyyil a'ziym
billahil 'aliyyil
illaa billahil
quvvata illaa
falah' deganida
Kompyuter savodxonligi
bo’yicha mustaqil
'alal falah'
Hayya 'alal
'alas soloh
Hayya 'alas
mavsum boyicha


yuklab olish