National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2019
Korea); the policy itself is unlikely to raise the quality of volunteer activities; it cannot be said
that the policy, which applies without exception, is a measure with justifiable restrictions of
fundamental rights to achieve the goal of the volunteer mission and the policy causes specific
and serious damages to the petitioners while its benefit is merely convenience of personnel
management.
The organization accepted the recommendation of the Commission. Considering the minimum
time for adaptation and the security situation in other countries, it changed the policy to allow
stationed.
On October 14, the Commission recommended the Minister of Justice to improve the current
administration of the bar examination in a way that the rights of test-takers are not violated due to
the restriction placed on use of restrooms during the examination.
The problems of cheating or causing a disturbance cannot be completely controlled if testtakers are allowed to use the restroom during the exam. However, no reports of cheating or
disturbances were received from college entrance exams, TOEIC test, or other public examinations
where the restroom restriction policy was mitigated or abolished based on the Commission’s
recommendation.
The benefit gained from restricting use of restroom for the sake of fairness and protection of
other examinees is vague and limited as the bar exam offers little chance of benefit gained from
cheating in the restroom due to the exam layout and the difficulty of the test; the physiological
need to use the restroom is a basic human need and a right that must be protected by the
Constitution; and it is harsh to make a test-taker who is desperately in need of using the restroom
choose between suppressing a natural urge or giving up on the exam. On the other hand, the
damage suffered by test-takers is specific and serious. Thus, the Commission concluded that, if an
exam session is not more than two hours, restricting the use of restroom is an infringement upon
the right to human dignity and the freedom of action in general.
The Ministry of Justice accepted the Commission’s recommendation and replied that it would
allow restroom breaks, starting thirty minutes after a test begins and ending 20 minutes before it
ends.
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Key Activities
Human rights infringement caused by restroom restrictions during bar exam
Part 2
volunteers to take leave to another country after six months have elapsed from the time they were