Special Act on Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes
Agreement on Revision of Police Agency Investigation Guidelines
Park Dae-chul "Urges Proactive Response Even Before Legislation"
The People Power Party and the government have decided to legislate to require education superintendents to submit mandatory opinions during investigations of child abuse involving teachers. They also plan to strengthen related requirements to prevent teachers from being suspended from their positions solely based on child abuse reports.
On the 12th, the ruling party and government held a meeting at the National Assembly titled "Amendment of the Child Abuse Punishment Act in Response to Reckless Child Abuse Reports Against Teachers" and agreed to revise the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes and the investigative guidelines of the National Police Agency.
Park Dae-chul, Chairman of the Policy Committee of the People Power Party, is speaking at the party-government consultation meeting on the amendment of the Child Abuse Punishment Act in response to indiscriminate child abuse reports against teachers, held at the National Assembly on the 12th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
Park Dae-chul, the policy chief of the People Power Party, said at a briefing after the meeting, "There have been many criticisms that the unique circumstances of schools were not sufficiently reflected during investigations and inquiries when child abuse reports were filed against teachers for legitimate student guidance." He added, "Investigations and inquiries proceeded without considering teachers' legitimate student guidance at schools, which greatly discouraged teachers' educational activities."
Accordingly, the ruling party and government decided to amend the Child Abuse Special Act to require education superintendents to submit opinions to investigative agencies in cases of child abuse related to teachers' legitimate student guidance. The proposed amendment will be jointly introduced by Jeong Jeom-sik, the senior lawmaker of the ruling party on the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and Lee Tae-gyu, the ruling party's senior lawmaker on the Education Committee.
The Ministry of Education plans to establish a system where education support offices promptly verify investigations and education offices submit opinions to ensure that education superintendents' opinions are submitted smoothly during child abuse investigations and inquiries. Investigative agencies will attach the opinions submitted by education superintendents to case records and will be required to obligatorily consider the education superintendents' opinions regarding investigations and dispositions. Investigative bodies will also be required to obligatorily consider the opinions submitted by education superintendents when judging child abuse cases.
Inogong, Deputy Minister of Justice, is greeting at the party-government consultation meeting on the amendment of the Child Abuse Punishment Act in response to indiscriminate child abuse reports against teachers, held at the National Assembly on the 12th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
The ruling party and government also agreed to strengthen the conditions so that teachers cannot be suspended from their positions without justifiable reasons when reported for child abuse. Park said, "Currently, there are cases where teachers are suspended solely based on child abuse reports, raising concerns about infringement on teachers' educational rights."
Attending the meeting were Park, Lee Man-hee, the senior deputy policy chief, Lee Tae-gyu, the Education Committee senior lawmaker, and Jeong Jeom-sik, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee senior lawmaker. From the government side, Jang Sang-yoon, Deputy Minister of Education, Lee No-gong, Deputy Minister of Justice, Choi Jong-gyun, Director of Population Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Jo Joo-eun, Director of Women's Safety Planning at the National Police Agency, were present.
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