South Korea’s Constitutional Court to hold public hearing in first major trial petition case

South Korea’s Constitutional Court is preparing to hear the first public arguments in a trial petition case since the system began. The hearing will concern Green Cross’s challenge to a fine linked to alleged collusion in government vaccine procurement.

The court said the hearing will take place on Oct. 7 at its main courtroom in Seoul. The case is the first trial petition to pass preliminary review and reach the full bench. Its central question is whether the Supreme Court acted unconstitutionally when it dismissed Green Cross’s administrative appeal without a full review, even though the company had received a different outcome in a related criminal case.

Green Cross faced an order from the Fair Trade Commission to pay 2.035 billion won over alleged collusion in three vaccine tenders commissioned by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency between 2017 and 2019. The company challenged the order in an administrative lawsuit.

Prosecutors also charged Green Cross with obstruction of bidding and related offenses, but the Supreme Court ultimately confirmed an acquittal in the criminal case. In the administrative proceedings, however, the fine remained in place. The Supreme Court then finalized Green Cross’s loss by dismissing its appeal without a full hearing, a procedure used when an appeal does not raise an alleged violation of the Constitution or law.

Green Cross says the case should not have been dismissed that way and argues that the rulings infringed its right to a trial and property rights. The Constitutional Court has asked the parties to submit views on the scope and limits of the constitutional right to judicial protection. It said the decision to hold arguments followed deliberation over whether expert or interested-party testimony was needed.

“

It was a decision by the court on its own authority.