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"Disciplinary Reduction for Awards"... Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Recommends Improvement of Disciplinary System in Public Institutions

Abuse of Public Institution Head Commendations for Disciplinary Mitigation
Anti-Corruption Commission Recommends Excluding Commendations Unrelated to Duties

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) has issued a recommendation to improve the practice so that public institutions do not indiscriminately reduce disciplinary actions based on commendations from heads of public institutions.


On the 30th, the ACRC announced that it recommended the Ministry of Economy and Finance and 327 public institutions to improve the system to prevent abuse of disciplinary reductions using commendations.

"Disciplinary Reduction for Awards"... Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Recommends Improvement of Disciplinary System in Public Institutions

The ACRC focused on the fact that public institutions can reduce disciplinary actions not only with commendations from minister-level officials or higher but also with relatively easily obtained commendations from heads of public institutions.


According to the ACRC’s actual condition survey, over the past five years, the total number of commendations awarded by public institutions was 139,000, of which 68.9% were commendations issued in the name of the heads of public institutions. Among those disciplined, there were 456 cases where disciplinary reductions were made based on commendations from heads of public institutions, accounting for 49.4% of all disciplinary cases. It was confirmed that one public institution even used commendations from the 1990s to reduce disciplinary actions.


Furthermore, some public institutions granted disciplinary reductions even for serious misconduct. According to the current "Public Officials Disciplinary Regulations" and "Public Enterprise Management Guidelines," serious misconduct such as sexual crimes, drunk driving, and abuse of power are prohibited from receiving disciplinary reductions.


The ACRC judged that commendations are being misused as grounds for disciplinary reductions and recommended excluding public institution commendations unrelated to job performance, such as awards from competitions and volunteer activities, from reduction eligibility.


Additionally, public institutions were advised to specifically define misconduct prohibited from disciplinary reductions as stipulated in the Public Officials Disciplinary Regulations. Vague reasons for disciplinary reductions, such as diligent work and deep remorse, should be deleted, and objective criteria for reductions should be established.


Moreover, to ensure fairness in disciplinary decision-making, the ACRC recommended expanding the number of external committee members to at least half of the total members. It also urged the establishment of specific recusal and disqualification criteria to prevent committee members with conflicts of interest from participating in disciplinary committees.


An ACRC official stated, "With this recommendation, it is expected that the disciplinary reduction system using commendations in public institutions will be operated fairly."


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