A/HRC/32/36/Add.5 civil society and to further vitalize civil society. The Government looks forward to the Advisory Committee putting forth useful proposals for the development of civil society and for the build-up of a cooperative relationship between the Government and civil society. The government also plans to give full support for the Committee's fruitful work. Labor unions 16. Para 56: The Constitution of the Republic of Korea prescribes the duty of political impartiality for public officials. Relevant laws prohibit public officials and teachers from engaging in political activities such as election campaigning to keep them unbiased to the interests of any political factions or parties. In the realm of education, political impartiality means that there should not be unwarranted interference by national authorities or political parties, nor education be embroiled in political activities. The Government prohibits political activities of teachers’ trade unions which consist of elementary and middle school teachers in order to prevent students from being negatively influenced by their teacher’s political orientation in the course of the formation of their personalities and values. 17. Para 57: The recommendations of the Committee of Experts on Freedom of Association (CFA) should be respected as stated in the report, but it may be difficult to fully implement them given the different domestic systems and cultures of each country. The Government submitted a revised bill to the National Assembly in 1999 to grant membership of trade unions to dismissed workers but the bill was shelved during deliberation. In 2006, representatives of tripartite parties of labor, management and government agreed to maintain the current law which restricts eligibility of dismissed workers for members and leaders of trade unions. 18. In particular, the Act on the Establishment, Operation, etc., of Trade Unions for Teachers (AEOTUT) and the Act on Establishment and Operation, etc., of Public Officials’ Trade Unions (AEOPOTU) were enacted as special laws, unlike other trade union acts, given the following elements: distinctive job characteristics of public officials and teachers such as their influence on public interests, professionalism and autonomy; their unique qualification, status and recruitment process; and public expectation on public officials and teachers. The Constitution also provides that three basic labor rights of public officials and teachers may be prescribed differently from those of general workers. It should be also emphasized that the AEOTUT was established as a result of public discussion and tripartite agreement. 19. Para 58: The AEOTUT and the AEOPOTU confines the membership of trade unions to public officials and teachers in office, as well as to dismissed ones whose cases on requesting remedy for unfair labor practices are under review by the Labor Relations Commission. However small the number of dismissed ones may be, the bylaws of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) and the Korean Government Employees’ Union (KGEU) recognizing those whose dismissal was confirmed by the National Labor Relations Commission as members are a clear violation of the AEOTUT and AEOPOTU and would undermine legal stability and consistency unless they are corrected. The bylaws thus are grounds for revoking the registration of KTU and KGEU as trade unions under the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act (TULRAA). This was confirmed at the Supreme Court. 20. Para 59: The union registration system does not infringe on the right to freedom of association. The system is designed to ensure that workers exercise their right to freedom of association in an autonomous and democratic manner, by allowing unions that fulfill legal requirements to freely seek registration and by preventing the rampant establishment of organizations that fail to meet legal requirements. The TULRAA, prescribing the requirements for trade unions, does not protect organizations that fail to fulfill those 4

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