Constitutional Court judges Avoid Violation of the Disaster Act, applied the General Public Officials Act, dismissed Lee Sang-min's impeachment
Justices of the Constitutional Court dismissed Minister Lee Sang-min's impeachment adjudication on the 25th by avoiding the "emergency rescue" violation of Article 3 of the Disaster and Safety Management Act and applying common sense to the General Public Officials Act.
The Constitutional Court stated that Minister Lee was the 'person in charge of commanding emergency rescue' in the Disaster Act, but in the ruling, 'the act of waiting without doing anything until the secretary came to his house in Apgujeong for 105 minutes after the incident occurred' "(Such an act) Even from the point of view of an average public servant, it is difficult to say that it conforms to common sense.”
Article 2 'Duty' of the Disaster Act is the basic duty of the state and local governments to prevent disasters and minimize damage in the event of a disaster. Supervise and coordinate safety management tasks>
Article 3, Paragraph 6 of the Disaster Act <“Emergency rescue” means lifesaving and emergency services conducted by emergency rescue agencies and emergency rescue support agencies to protect the lives, bodies and property of citizens when there is a significant risk of a disaster or when a disaster occurs. treatment, and all other necessary urgent measures>, and this Minister's act is a 'violation of emergency rescue measures'.
The Constitutional Court decision is <Lee sent messages such as “second stage of firefighting response” and “estimating about 30 patients with cardiac arrest” at 11:20 pm on October 29, when the Itaewon disaster occurred, and at 11:21 “focused on the Minister of Public Administration and Security” promptly I received a presidential order to the effect of making every effort to provide first aid and treatment. However, 10 minutes later, at 11:31, Park Yong-soo, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Situation Office, received a call and instructed to 'quickly grasp the situation at the site and immediately implement necessary measures by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security'> and admitted that Minister Lee was in charge of command of the Disaster Act. did.
Contrary to this, the judges of the Constitutional Court found that Minister Lee falsely answered, "There is no such agency," to the question, "Is the Minister of Public Administration and Security the head of a disaster management agency?" It was judged to be an “act of damaging dignity” and made it the reason for the dismissal.
Minister Lee's duty to deal with disasters early is <Article 15-2 (Central and Regional Accident Handling Headquarters), and the head of a disaster management agency is responsible for efficiently managing disaster situations and handling disasters when disasters occur or are likely to occur. The Central Accident Handling Headquarters must be established and operated promptly>, and Minister Lee violated this.
Article 14 of the Disaster Act clearly stipulates that <the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters is established in the Ministry of Public Administration and Security> and <the Head of Headquarters (Central Countermeasures Headquarters) is the Minister of Public Administration and Security>.
Regarding the dismissal of the Constitutional Court, the Democratic Party's 'Lee Sang-min Impeachment Adjudication TF' said, "We respect the Constitutional Court's decision to impeach Minister Lee." I emphasize again that it has come to judgment.”