Plan to Extend Statute of Limitations for Sexual Misconduct Disciplinary Action at Local Public Institutions from 3 to 10 Years

2024.07.19. The Fair Economy — The Anti-corruption & Civil Rights Commission recently announced that it has formulated a plan to prevent missed disciplinary actions for sexual misconduct and drunk driving at local public agencies, including local public enterprises and local investment or grant institutions, and recommended it to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and local governments. The commission confirmed cases where executives and employees of these agencies committed sexual misconduct or drove under the influence but escaped discipline due to institutional gaps.

Currently, for public officials and executives and employees of public institutions under the 'Act on the Management of Public Institutions', the statute of limitations for disciplinary action for sexual misconduct such as prostitution, sexual violence, and sexual harassment is 10 years. In contrast, for executives and employees of local public institutions, the statute of limitations is only 3 years under relevant laws such as the 'Local Public Enterprises Act'.

A survey by the Anti-corruption & Civil Rights Commission found that 248 out of 291 local public agencies, or about 85%, have a three-year statute of limitations for sexual misconduct. The commission also confirmed cases where agencies failed to impose disciplinary actions because the statute of limitations expired, despite being aware of the sexual misconduct.

Furthermore, while relevant laws such as the 'National Civil Servants Act' require investigative bodies or the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea to notify the affiliated agency when they begin an investigation or inquiry into a public official, the scope of notification for local public agency executives and employees is limited to cases related to their duties. This raises concerns that agencies may not be promptly informed if their staff are investigated for sexual misconduct or drunk driving.

Indeed, the fact-finding survey by the Anti-corruption & Civil Rights Commission found that in six local public institutions, a total of nine individuals were caught by investigative agencies for drunk driving, but the institutions were not notified. As a result, the statute of limitations expired, and they only received cautions or warnings.

Meanwhile, to compensate for the current system where drunk driving offenses are not reported to employing institutions, some local public institutions have implemented self-check systems such as a 'voluntary drunk driving report system' or a 'driving record certificate verification system'. However, because related content is not specified in the standards or guidelines of higher authorities, not many institutions operate such systems.

Accordingly, the Anti-corruption & Civil Rights Commission proposed amendments to the 'Local Public Enterprise Act' and related statutes to extend the disciplinary period for sexual misconduct of local public institution employees to 10 years, matching that of public officials, and to include sexual misconduct and drunk‑driving cases in the list of incidents that investigative agencies must notify local public enterprises and locally invested or contributed agencies about.

In addition, the commission recommended revising relevant regulations to allow local governments to introduce self-inspection systems for drunk driving, such as verifying driving records, when auditing their affiliated local public agencies or when those agencies conduct internal audits.

Kim Tae-gyu, Vice Chair of the Anti-corruption & Civil Rights Commission, said, "We expect that this institutional improvement will further strengthen the ethics and integrity of executives and employees of local public agencies, who hold a status equivalent to that of civil servants."