For someone who has spent nine years studying for the bar exam in addition to four years as an undergraduate law major, President Yoon Suk Yeol seemed to have no idea about the constitutional provision regarding martial law and the relevant legislation.

If he had prosecuted a case the way he declared martial law, the defendant would have walked free. If Yoon had sat the bar exam the way he handled the declaration, well we know. In this instance at least, we can only be thankful for Yoon’s incompetence or unpreparedness. The making of the declaration and its manner of execution was marred by all manner of legal problems both procedurally and substantively and these will ultimately come back to bite Yoon.

First, we need to debunk some popular beliefs about emergency martial law. The declaration of emergency martial law does not give a carte blanche to whoever is in power. It is an emergency power given to the executive to be used in a certain narrow set of circumstances for strictly defined purposes. There are clear demarcations on what a commander must not do under martial law alongside what powers may be exercised. But because of our experience of misuse of martial law powers by past authoritarian regimes, there is a lasting impression that it is ruled by force without any strictures. That is not the case. If proper procedures and rules are not observed, declaration of martial law itself could be illegal. Here are some of those faults.

Further, article 77 of the Constitution gives the president the power to declare martial law in times of war, a serious disaster (natural or man-made, including external threats) or an equivalent state of emergency in order to respond........

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