Challenges to Constitutional Courts in Korea and Taiwan

Date: Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Time: 7:30-8:30 pm (Eastern)

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About the event:

The Constitutional Courts of South Korea and Taiwan have been thrust into the spotlight in recent weeks as they are asked to arbitrate bitter power struggles between the elected branches – power struggles in which the justices themselves have been targeted. In Korea, the Constitutional Court is hearing arguments over whether to ratify the legislature’s impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol. But until impeaching Yoon, the opposition party that controls the legislature was refusing to fill vacancies on the court. In Taiwan, the party that controls the legislature has blocked the president’s nominees to the Constitutional Court because it regards the court as politicized, while also passing legislation that immobilizes the court unless vacancies are filled. Two eminent constitutional scholars – Chaihark Hahm of Yonsei Law School and Jiunn-rong Yeh of National Taiwan University – will explain the background to the current crises and reflect on the role of courts in protecting democracy at times of deep partisan divisions.