section_path: Procedure
section_name: Procedure
paragraph_text: Procedure
  
  The review procedure in the Constitutional Court described in Chapter 3 of the Constitutional Court Act consists of two phases. In the first phase, the court examines whether the case meets the preliminary admissibility conditions. For example, if the petitioner missed the deadline for filing a request, the case is formally dismissed, regardless of the merits of the case. In the second phase, the court reviews and deliberates on the merits of the case. There is usually no oral hearings in the second phase, but the court may decide to have oral hearings if needed, under Article 30 of the Constitutional Court Act. If a petition is admissible but fails on its merits, it is formally rejected. If the court agrees with the petitioner, the petition is upheld, but there may be different forms of upheld decisions, as in the case of constitutionality review of statutes.
  
  Review in the first phase is performed by one of the court's three panels (지정재판부), each consisting of three justices. If the panel decides unanimously that the case fails to meet any of the admissibility conditions, the case is dismissed. Otherwise, the case proceeds to the second phase, where the full bench (전원재판부) reviews the case, according to Article 22 of the Constitutional Court Act. Even if a case passes the first review and has proceeded to the second phase, it can still be dismissed.