Chungnam Human Rights Ordinance Abolition at a 'Crossroads'... Chungnam Provincial Council Accepts Resident Ordinance Request

The Chungnam Human Rights Ordinance and the Chungnam Student Human Rights Ordinance stand at a crossroads for potential abolition. Previously, organizations such as the Christian Federation requested the abolition of the two ordinances through a resident ordinance petition, citing reasons such as the decline of educational authority, and the Chungnam Provincial Council accepted this petition.

The resident ordinance petition is a form of local autonomy system based on Article 15 of the Local Autonomy Act, allowing residents to request the enactment, revision, or abolition of ordinances they deem necessary through systems such as the online resident participation ordinance system, addressed to the head of the relevant local government.

According to the Chungnam Provincial Council on the 8th, the day before, the Council’s Steering Committee accepted the abolition proposals for the Chungnam Basic Human Rights Ordinance and the Chungnam Student Human Rights Ordinance during the ‘347th Extraordinary Session Steering Committee 1st Meeting.’

The Steering Committee reportedly accepted the petition because the number of valid signatures on the petitioners’ list exceeded the required 12,073 signatures for a resident ordinance petition, and there was no reason to exclude the petition from consideration.

Accordingly, the Chungnam Provincial Council will, within the next 30 days, propose the resident petition ordinance under the name of the council chairperson, and after review by standing committees such as the Administrative and Cultural Committee and the Education Committee, as well as a plenary vote, will decide whether to abolish the two human rights ordinances.

The resident ordinance petition for the abolition of the human rights ordinances has been under review for five months since March, when representatives from the Chungnam Christian Federation, the Chungnam Right Human Rights Committee, and others submitted the petitioners’ signature lists. The valid signatures submitted were 12,282 for the Human Rights Ordinance and 12,673 for the Student Human Rights Ordinance, both exceeding the required number of petitioners.

Meanwhile, the original Chungnam Human Rights Ordinance was enacted in May 2012. However, in 2018, concerns that the ordinance could endorse or promote homosexuality led members of the then Liberty Korea Party (10th Chungnam Provincial Council) to lead its abolition. Subsequently, the Democratic Party, which secured a majority in the 11th Chungnam Provincial Council, reinstated the ordinance.

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