The Supreme Court has ruled that a local government ordinance that prohibits men and women from sitting together in the reading room is against the Constitution.
The Supreme Court overturned the lower court ruling that the reading room operator A lost the plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Jeonju Office of Education in Jeonbuk Province to cancel the disposition of teaching suspension, and returned the case to the Gwangju High Court.
Previously, Company A was suspended from teaching for ten days in 2017 for violating the ordinance that separates men's and women's seats.
Accordingly, Company A filed a lawsuit to cancel the suspension of teaching, claiming that the ordinance violated the right to freedom and equality of occupation.
Education authorities protested that the reading room can be operated 24 hours a day, so there is a high risk of crime.
The Supreme Court held that the provision violated the Constitution by infringing on the self-determination rights of the reading room operators and users.
In addition, I did not believe that mixed presence does not increase the risk of sexual offenses or impair the learning atmosphere.
16 local governments across the country, excluding Chungcheongnam-do, have ordinances prohibiting mixed seats in the reading room.
The decision of the Supreme Court made it inevitable for the rest of the local governments to revise their ordinances.