Revising Local Ordinances to Eliminate Community Discrimination Against 'Pihanjeong Hukyeonin'

Revision of Local Ordinances on Limited Guardianship as Disqualification in Various Qualifications and Duties
Expectations for Expanded Community Participation of Limited Guardianship Recipients

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Mr. A, who has been consistently volunteering for over 10 years for elderly living alone and low-income groups, was recommended as a candidate for the ‘County Citizen Volunteer Award’ in County B where he resides. However, the County Citizen Volunteer Award Committee excluded Mr. A from the candidate list because he is a limited guardian. In the past, Mr. A, who had a compulsive spending habit and went bankrupt, was designated a limited guardian because the authority for financial transactions above a certain amount was held by his spouse. Although his condition has improved to the point where he no longer requires medication, he was still not allowed to be listed as a candidate according to the county’s ordinance.

From now on, local ordinances and regulations will be revised to ensure that limited guardians like Mr. A are not excluded from award candidacy.

On the 7th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it has selected the ‘Limited Guardian Disqualification Clause,’ an unreasonable discriminatory regulation, as the first local ordinance revision project of the year and will undertake a large-scale revision.

The Ministry explained, "We selected the ‘Limited Guardian Disqualification Clause’ as the first planned revision project this year to eliminate unreasonable discrimination against limited guardians and to expand their participation in local communities."

A limited guardian is a person who, due to mental constraints caused by illness, disability, old age, or other reasons, lacks the capacity to handle affairs but is recognized as having full legal capacity in principle, requiring the consent of the limited guardian only for certain legal acts within a defined scope.

Limited guardians should not face any discrimination except in cases separately recognized by the court (such as property management or personal protection), but many local governments’ ordinances and rules still list limited guardians as disqualification criteria.

The local ordinances subject to revision total about 300 cases and include regulations that exclude limited guardians from eligibility for awards or promotional ambassador roles regardless of the degree of mental constraint; regulations that exclude them from jobs or duties such as sanitation workers or masters without considering their contract or job performance abilities; and regulations that list them as disqualification criteria for employees or committee members.

Ordinances and regulations restricting the activities of limited guardians violate constitutional rights to equality, pursuit of happiness, and freedom of occupational choice, and contradict the purpose of the adult guardianship system. They may also violate current laws such as the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities (Article 8) and the Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Article 6), which prohibit unreasonable discrimination against persons with disabilities.

Earlier this year, several laws including the National Public Service Act (Article 31) and the Local Public Service Act (Article 33) removed limited guardians from disqualification criteria. This amendment to national laws allows assessment of limited guardians’ work ability through post hoc and individual evaluations, and the current local ordinance revision plan aligns with national legislative policy.

The selected revision projects for this year must be completed by local governments by the end of 2022, but local governments will be encouraged to revise related ordinances as quickly as possible. The revision performance will be reflected in the 2023 joint evaluation to ensure compliance.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety expects that this revision of ordinances and rules will eliminate discrimination against limited guardians and expand opportunities for them to participate as members of local communities.

Park Sung-ho, Director of Local Autonomy and Decentralization at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, “Choosing the revision of local ordinances related to the ‘Limited Guardian Disqualification Clause’ as the first planned revision project this year is aimed not only at guaranteeing the basic rights of limited guardians but also at eliminating unreasonable discrimination embedded in our society.” He added, “We will continue to revise unreasonable local ordinances going forward.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.