The NHRCK Co-Hosted Academic Seminar on
"Industrial Actions and Obstruction of Business"
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) hosted academic seminar on "Industrial Actions and Obstruction of Business" jointly with the Korean Society of Labor Law and the Center for Public Interest and Human Rights of Seoul National University on 28 May, 2010 at Seoul National University.
On November 7, 2009, the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association requested the Korean government to take all necessary measures without delay so as to bring section 314 of the Penal Code (obstruction of business) into line with freedom of association principles. The Committee requested to be kept informed in this respect. In addition, on November 20, 2009, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recommended that the Korean government guarantee the right of all persons to form and join trade unions freely, the right to engage in collective bargaining through trade unions and the right to strike by refraining from the use of the “obstruction of business” clause as a systematic recourse to weaken the right to strike.
In 2007, the NHRCK conducted a survey to look into the status of punishment in labor disputes. According to this survey, about 30 percent of labor criminal cases were regulated by Section 314 of the Penal Code (obstruction of business). Such fact indicates complexities of the application of the obstruction of business clause and its human rights implications in our society.
In this seminar, experts and legal practitioners in constitutional, criminal and labor laws discussed the legal tendency recognizing the obstruction of business against industrial actions lacking legitimate causes.
