Top court dismisses lawsuit nullifying student right ordinance

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the education ministry that seeks to nullify a controversial ordinance that protects the human rights of students.

Aimed at expanding students' rights at school, the student human rights ordinance bans corporal punishment by teachers as well as discrimination against homosexual and pregnant students, allows rallies on school grounds and gives students the freedom to choose their own hairstyles and clothing.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, under the former liberal Superintendent Kwak No-hyun, enforced the ordinance in January 2012. The Ministry of Education, which has long opposed the regulation, along with some teachers and conservative groups, launched the litigation.

"The petition does not meet the requirements, as the education minister had not demanded a reconsideration of the ordinance within a certain period," the court said in its ruling. "The minister must first demand that the superintendent reconsider within 20 days of the passage of the ordinance."

The ordinance, however, has not been fully implemented after Kwak's successor, conservative Superintendent Moon Yong-lin, took office. Kwak was stripped of his post for election bribery. (Yonhap News)