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| A ruling is under way at the Constitutional Court, Feb. 23. Yonhap |
The Constitutional Court has ruled that the school violence prevention law mandating a school bully's apology to the victim and other countermeasures is constitutional, officials said Tuesday.
The court made the decision 6-3, rejecting a middle school student's petition claiming that the anti-school violence law infringes upon the freedom of conscience and personality rights by forcing an apology to a victim of school bullying.
Under the school violence prevention act, bullies can be ordered to make a written apology to victims, banned from contacting, threatening or retaliating against victims, and be ordered to transfer classes.
The student filed the petition for a review of the law's constitutionality after being punished for school violence in 2017 with orders to make a written apology to the victim, move to a different class and not to contact the victim.
The nine-member court said the requirement of a written apology from a school bully is meant to offer an educational opportunity to look back on his wrongdoings and apologize to the victim.
"The issue of school violence cannot be approached wholly from the perspective of punishment, and the educational perspective of needing to guide and enlighten the perpetrators of school bullying should also be considered," the court said.
The court also upheld the constitutionality of prohibiting school bullies from contacting, threatening or retaliating against victims or whistle-blowers of school violence and subjecting school violence perpetrators to a class transfer, saying such measures do not restrict their freedom of action.
The petitioner had concomitantly filed a lawsuit contesting the school's disciplinary action against him, but the Supreme Court finally ruled against him in 2019. (Yonhap)
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