Constitutional Court Begins Review of Supreme Court's 'Dismissal Without Review' Ruling as First Judicial Complaint

The Constitutional Court has officially commenced its review of a Supreme Court decision to dismiss a case without a full hearing, designating it as its first "judicial complaint" case.

The Constitutional Court accepted a judicial complaint alleging that the Supreme Court's dismissal of an administrative lawsuit appeal concerning 'GC Pharma's cartel fine' was unlawful, and designated it as the inaugural case for judicial complaints. This case involved the Supreme Court appeal of an administrative lawsuit concerning a 2 billion won fine imposed on GC Pharma in July 2023 for bid-rigging related to vaccines.

Although GC Pharma was acquitted in the criminal trial for obstruction of bidding, it lost the administrative lawsuit seeking to nullify the fine. In a situation where the outcomes of the criminal and administrative proceedings differed for the same bidding conduct, the Supreme Court had previously ruled to dismiss the administrative lawsuit appeal without a full review.

This case is expected to yield a ruling that will gauge whether the Constitutional Court can intervene in the Supreme Court's discretion regarding the operation of the 'dismissal without full review' system, which accounts for 70% of the Supreme Court's annual caseload. Attention is focused on whether this will curb the Supreme Court's practice of processing cases through this system, which allows for dismissal without disclosing the reasons for rejection.

The Constitutional Court will primarily examine whether the Supreme Court's dismissal decision itself infringes upon the right to judicial remedy, especially in cases where courts have issued conflicting judgments.