Seoul City Council passes bill to abolish student human rights ordinance… second after Chungcheongnam-do

The bill to abolish the Seoul Student Human Rights Ordinance passed the plenary session of the Seoul City Council. Among the seven cities and provinces nationwide that enforce student human rights ordinances, it was the second to pass the abolition bill, following South Chungcheong Province. It has been 12 years since it was promulgated in 2012.

The Seoul City Council held the 323rd extraordinary plenary session at 2 p.m. on the 26th and passed the ‘Seoul Metropolitan City Student Human Rights Ordinance Abolition Ordinance’. Of the 60 members present, it was passed with 60 in favor, 0 against, and 0 abstentions. City council members of the Democratic Party of Korea did not participate in the vote. As soon as Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon promulgates the abolition, the Student Human Rights Ordinance loses effect. However, Superintendent Cho can exercise his right of veto (request for reconsideration) on the abolition.

Earlier, at around 11:30 a.m. on this day, the city council’s ‘Human Rights and Rights Improvement Special Committee’ passed the abolition bill and referred it to the plenary session.

On this day, the city council also passed the ‘Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Ordinance on the Rights and Responsibilities of School Members’, which replaces the Student Human Rights Ordinance. This includes ‘student rights and responsibilities’ and ‘guardian rights and responsibilities’ that were not included in the existing student human rights ordinance.

The plan to abolish the Student Human Rights Ordinance was proposed by City Council Chairman Kim Hyun-ki in March last year after accepting a request for a resident ordinance, but it was put on hold at the end of last year when the Seoul Administrative Court accepted a civic group’s request for a temporary injunction to suspend execution. Instead, it was re-promoted by a special committee in the form of an initiative by a member of the National Assembly.

The special committee was initially composed of 10 members from the People’s Power Party and 4 members from the Democratic Party of Korea, but on the 19th, all Democratic Party city council members resigned, leaving only the People’s Power Party.

The Student Human Rights Ordinance was first enacted by Gyeonggi Province in 2010 and was then implemented in seven cities and provinces, including Gwangju, Seoul, Jeonbuk, South Chungcheong, Incheon, and Jeju. Among them, South Chungcheong Province abolished its student human rights ordinance on the 24th.

Discussions about the abolition of the Seoul Student Human Rights Ordinance arose as the issue of violation of teaching rights emerged as a social issue following the death of a teacher at Seoi Elementary School.