Human Rights Commission Passes Full Committee Resolution: "Petitions Dismissed Even if Only One Opposes"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRCK) has changed its regulations to allow a complaint to be automatically dismissed if even one member of the subcommittee opposes it.

On the 28th, at the 20th plenary meeting, the NHRCK passed the agenda item titled "Handling in case of disagreement in the subcommittee" by a vote of 6 in favor and 4 against out of 11 members present.

This agenda aims to change the operation method of the subcommittee so that if even one of the three subcommittee members opposes a complaint, it can be dismissed or rejected without being referred to the plenary committee.

This agenda was proposed last year, led by six human rights commissioners including Standing Commissioners Kim Yong-won and Lee Choong-sang.

They have argued that the current Human Rights Commission Act requires at least three members of the subcommittee to be present and at least three to approve an agenda item, resulting in many cases being brought to the subcommittee but remaining in a "neither approved nor rejected" state, failing to ensure the urgency of complaint processing.

Inside and outside the NHRCK, concerns were raised that if this agenda passes, the decision-making of the consensus-based NHRCK could be distorted or victims might not be adequately protected. Traditionally, if even one member opposed an agenda item in the subcommittee, discussions would continue until consensus was reached or the matter would be referred to the plenary committee for further discussion.

At the meeting, six commissioners?Kim Yong-won, Lee Choong-sang, Kim Jong-min, Han Seok-hoon, Lee Han-byeol, and Kang Jeong-hye?voted in favor, while four?Nam Gyu-seon, Won Min-kyung, Kim Yong-jik, and So Ra-mi?voted against. Chairman Ahn Chang-ho abstained.

Standing Commissioner Nam Gyu-seon argued throughout the meeting that the agenda should not be put to a vote, explaining, "The NHRCK has traditionally tried to reach consensus in the subcommittee without voting, and if consensus is not reached, the agenda is either resubmitted or sent to the plenary committee."

Non-standing Commissioner Han Seok-hoon explained, "If opinions do not align in the subcommittee, a vote is inevitable, but with the current three-member composition, the quorum for approval cannot be met. The intention is to dismiss the agenda if the quorum is not met."

Chairman Ahn said, "If problems arise from the passage of this agenda, we will discuss this matter again and strive to reach a reasonable conclusion. Personally and legally, I think this agenda is valid, but considering your concerns, I will abstain."

This agenda, which has been controversial within the NHRCK since last year, was brought before the plenary committee a total of 14 times as of this day. Previously, six commissioners including Kim Yong-won and Lee Choong-sang declared a boycott by not attending plenary meetings for several months, claiming their request to vote on this agenda was not accepted.

At the plenary meeting on this day, an agenda to increase the subcommittee members from three to four was also passed. However, if the vote in the four-member subcommittee results in a 2-2 tie, efforts will be made to refer the agenda to the plenary committee.

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