Supreme Court Rules Education Ministry's Disciplinary Demand Against Teacher for Not Recording School Violence Unlawful

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Education Ministry's demand that Kim Sang-gon (65), superintendent of Gyeonggi Province Office of Education, discipline an education official who withheld the recording of school violence perpetration in a student record was unlawful.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (presiding justice Lee Sang-hoon) on the 27th ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a case where Superintendent Kim sought to cancel a mandate for the execution of official duties against the Minister of Education, requesting that "the order to file disciplinary charges against education officials who did not record school violence perpetration in the student record be rescinded."

The court stated: "The disciplinary demand by the Education Ministry lacks legal clarity regarding its binding effect and whether it violates the constitutional principle against excessive restriction, so withholding the recording of student records in accordance with the superintendent's policy cannot be grounds for discipline," adding that "since the disciplinary cause against the subjects of discipline does not hold, the mandate for the execution of official duties issued by the Education Ministry to Superintendent Kim is unlawful."

The court further noted: "The task of directing and supervising the preparation of student records is a state affair delegated to city and provincial education superintendents as work that must be handled uniformly for the benefit of the entire nation. However, in a situation where precedent, scholarship, and case law regarding the nature of the superintendent's duties have not been established, Superintendent Kim's directive cannot be immediately deemed unlawful simply on the grounds that it constitutes a state affair."

Previously, in November 2012, the Education Ministry issued a mandate for the execution of official duties to the Gyeonggi Province Office of Education to refer teachers who did not follow the school violence student record guidelines to the Education Ministry's Special Disciplinary Committee.

In response, the Gyeonggi Province Office of Education filed a lawsuit, stating: "The Education Ministry's mandate for the execution of official duties infringes upon the autonomous authority and discretion of the local government guaranteed under the Local Autonomy Act."

Subsequently, despite the refusal of the Gyeonggi Province Office of Education to comply with the order, the Education Ministry convened the Special Disciplinary Committee and resolved to impose discipline on 30 employees of the Gyeonggi Province Office of Education, including the Director of the Educational Administration Bureau and 25 regional education superintendents who had directed the withholding of school violence records, and sent the mandate for the execution of official duties.