A 22-Year Legal Vacuum for Juvenile Detention School Teachers: Constitutional Court Rules Administrative Inaction Unconstitutional

[Financial News] The Constitutional Court of Korea ruled that the government's "administrative inaction" in failing to establish, by presidential decree, the criteria for recognizing the career experience of teachers appointed as general public officials at juvenile detention schools violates the Constitution.
On the 23rd, by a 6-3 vote, the court decided in a case filed by Teacher A and others at juvenile detention schools against the President that it is unconstitutional not to set out, by presidential decree, matters concerning the career history of juvenile detention school teachers under Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Act on the Treatment of Protected Juveniles.
The petitioners graduated from a graduate school of education, obtained a first-class secondary school teacher certificate, and were appointed as juvenile detention school teachers in August 2019.
The Act on the Treatment of Protected Juveniles stipulates that matters necessary for the career history, training, and job performance of juvenile detention school teachers appointed as general public officials shall be set by presidential decree, and that they must be treated on an equal footing with educational officials.
However, the enforcement decree contains only provisions on training and job performance, and no criteria for recognizing career experience were established. The petitioners therefore filed a constitutional complaint, arguing that they were denied equal treatment with educational officials in the calculation of their career history and salary grade, infringing on their property rights and right to equality.
The court found that the President had failed to fulfill the legislative duty delegated by law. It said, "The state of legislative inaction, in which no presidential decree was enacted under the Act on the Treatment of Protected Juveniles, continued for more than 22 years, from April 21, 2004, when the former Juvenile Detention Act took effect, until the date of this decision. It is difficult to recognize any justifiable reason for the administrative inaction."
The court also recognized an infringement of their property rights. It stated, "The right of juvenile detention school teachers to receive compensation commensurate with an evaluation of their career history on the same basis as educational officials goes beyond a mere expectation and constitutes a constitutionally protected property right. The President's failure, without justifiable reason, to enact the presidential decree and thereby ensure equal pay violated both property rights and the right to equality."
Three justices dissented, saying the case should be dismissed as inadmissible because the filing period had expired.
 
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