Date of the First Phase of the Judicial ExaminationCase

(13-2 KCCR 353, 2000Hun-Ma159, September 27, 2001)

In this case, the Constitutional Court upheld the State's decision to administer the first phase of the Judicial Examination on Sunday.

A. Background of the Case

The State announced that the first phase of the Judicial Exami-nation would be administered on Sunday through the general examschedule for civil servants in 2000, and the complainant submitted anapplication for the test accordingly. However, because the exam wasadministered on Sunday, the complainant, who is a Christian, wasforced to forsake his religious duty of going to church and attendingprayer on a Sunday, in order to take the examination. Thus, thecomplainant filed a constitutional complaint arguing that administer-ing the Judicial Examination on a Sunday violated the freedom ofreligion and the right of equality.

B. Summary of the Decision

The Constitutional Court upheld the State's decision, on a unan-imous vote, as follows:

Article 20(1) of the Constitution states that "all citizens shallenjoy the freedom of religion," and Article 20(2) stipulates that "nostate religion shall be recognized, and church and state shall be sep-arated." Scheduling the Judicial Examination on Sunday is a matterrelated to the freedom of religious activity. However, the freedomis not an absolute one, but one that can be restricted for the main- tenance of law and order or for public welfare.

A test administered by the State should be scheduled to allowmajority of citizens to take test with minimum inconvenience to their daily lives, such as school and work. To administer a test which somany people take, the State has not much of an option but to rentbuildings of intermediate schools or high schools and mobilize about two thousands civil servants to supervise administration of the test.If a test is administered on a weekday, individuals who have jobsor are students will be forced to absent themselves from the officeor school, and there will be difficulty in supervising the test admin-istration. Considering these factors, scheduling the administration ofthe Judicial Examination on a Sunday is for the convenience of mostof the people who have signed up for the test. Restriction on thefreedom of religion thereof is unavoidable for public welfare, and doesnot violate the essential aspect of the freedom of religion.

Unlike numerous Western countries where Christian culture formsthe basis of society in Korea, Sunday is merely a holiday, not a dayset out for specific religious service. Considering this and many otherfactors examined above, it can be concluded that the State's deci-sion to administer the Judiciary Examination on Sunday does notunreasonably discriminate against the complainant's religion fromother religions.