National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2019
Also, no OECD countries other than Korea completely ban government servants from joining
political parties. Restriction of political donations by a legal order without a parent law is a
violation of the principle of statutory reservation. As to the freedom of election campaigns by
public officials, it is too excessive to prohibit them from campaigning for an election in his or
her capacity as a citizen regardless of his or her duty. For these reasons, the Commission made
recommendations and expressed opinion calling for legislative amendments to guarantee the
political freedom of public officials and teachers.
constitutional review, public consensus, and public agreement; even the Constitutional Court has
Part 2
The petitioned organizations did not accept the recommendations, citing the need for
ruled that restriction of public officials from joining a political party is constitutional; and this issue
Assembly.
C. Policy Recommendation to Protect the Rights of Children of
Imprisoned Parents
The Commission recommended the chief of the National Police Agency on March 14 to
revise the Criminal Investigation Rules and other related regulations to ensure that the rights
of children who are at the scene when the parent is arrested or imprisoned are not violated, to
establish procedures for early detection of children who are in need of protection, to establish and
disseminate guidelines that specify measures that should and should not be taken to serve the best
interest of children of arrested parents, and to promote the guidelines on a regular basis.
It recommended the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to ensure that investigators check if a
defendant who is likely to be sent to jail has any children who need to be cared for. To guarantee
the rights of children to meet their imprisoned parents, it recommended the Minister of Justice to
install children-friendly reception rooms in all correctional facilities, establish a friendly setting
for family visits in the eyes of children, and provide a legal basis for incarcerated persons to check
how their minor children are doing on a regular basis and in a systematic way.
The National Police Agency accepted the recommendation to incorporate considerations
for children of arrested parents into relevant regulations, and to take appropriate actions to
transfer these children to related institutions or public officials. The Supreme Court accepted the
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Key Activities
must be resolved through legislative and public policy channels by collecting views in the National