Article 1(Purpose) #
The purpose of this Decree is to prevent a vacancy in duties in the event of an incident involving the head, deputy head, or other public officials of an agency, and to clarify the responsibilities of acting officials by prescribing the procedures for their designation and the principles governing the operation of acting assignments.
[This Article Wholly Amended on Jun. 7, 2011]
Article 2(Definitions) #
The terms used in this Decree are defined as follows:
1. The term "acting assignment" means performing the duties of the head, deputy head, or other public official of an agency in an acting capacity to prevent a vacancy in duties resulting from an incident involving such official;
2. The term "head of an agency" means the head of a central administrative agency or an equivalent agency (including agencies affiliated with the President or the Prime Minister; hereinafter referred to as "central administrative agency, etc.");
3. The term "deputy head of an agency" means a subsidiary body directly subordinate to the head of an agency;
4. The term "incident" means any of the following cases:
a. Where the relevant position is vacant until a successor is appointed due to transfer, retirement, dismissal, or expiration of term of office;
b. Where the affected official is temporarily unavailable to perform his or her duties due to vacation, official travel, or a leave of absence without a replacement.
[This Article Wholly Amended on Jun. 7, 2011]
[Moved from Article 3; previous Article 2 moved to Article 3 <Jun. 7, 2011>]
Article 3(Scope of application) #
Except as otherwise provided by other statutes or regulations, acting assignments within central administrative agencies and their affiliated agencies shall be governed by this Decree.
[This Article Wholly Amended on Jun. 7, 2011]
[Moved from Article 2; previous Article 3 moved to Article 2 <Jun. 7, 2011>]
Article 4(Acting assignments for head or deputy head of agency) #
(1) In the event of an incident involving the head of an agency, the deputy head of the agency shall perform the duties of the head in an acting capacity.
(2) If an incident involving the deputy head occurs, the Deputy Minister or Director General (including the head of an office, bureau, or department or a public official in any equivalent position; and in agencies without established offices or bureaus, the head of a division or an equivalent subsidiary body; hereinafter the same shall apply) shall perform the duties of the deputy head in an acting capacity in accordance with the order of succession prescribed by the statutes or regulations establishing the respective office or bureau; provided, if a position higher than that of the head of an office or bureau exists, a public official holding such a higher position shall perform the duties of the deputy head in an acting capacity, taking precedence over a Deputy Minister or Director General, in accordance with the order of succession prescribed by the statutes or regulations establishing that higher position.
(3) If the acting duty is of a special nature or if there are other unavoidable reasons that make it inappropriate to follow the order of succession under paragraph (2), the head of the agency shall, notwithstanding paragraph (2), establish and operate a separate order of succession for the deputy head in a manner consistent with the purpose of acting assignments.
(4) If an incident occurs involving both the head and the deputy head of an agency, public officials holding the positions specified in the order of succession under paragraph (2) (or the predetermined order of succession established under paragraph (3), if any) shall successively perform the duties of the head and the deputy head of the agency in an acting capacity, respectively.
[This Article Wholly Amended on Jun. 7, 2011]
Article 5(Acting assignments for public officials other than head or deputy head of agency) #
(1) If an incident occurs involving a public official other than the head or deputy head of the agency, the immediate superior of the affected official (hereinafter referred to as the “person authorized to designate an acting official”) shall designate an acting official from among public officials directly subordinate to the affected official, taking into consideration factors such as the importance of duties, competence, experience, or level of responsibility; provided, if the affected official belongs to a division (including an office, team, or any equivalent entity, hereinafter the same shall apply), the division head shall designate an acting official from among the members of the division.
(2) If it is deemed inappropriate for a public official directly subordinate to the affected official under paragraph (1) to perform the duties of the affected official in an acting capacity due to the special nature of the acting duties or other unavoidable reasons, the person authorized to designate an acting official may appoint a suitable public official of the same grade as the affected official to act in that capacity (referring to a member of the Senior Executive Service or a public official holding equivalent positions if the affected official is a member of the Senior Executive Service).
(3) If an incident occurs involving the acting official, the person authorized to designate an acting official shall designate another acting official under paragraph (1) or (2) to prevent any disruption in the performance of business affairs.
[This Article Wholly Amended on Jun. 7, 2011]
Article 6(Operation of acting assignments) #
(1) When an individual performs the duties of a position in an acting capacity under Articles 4 and 5, he or she may do so for only 1 position at a time.
(2) When designating an acting official under Article 5, the person authorized to designate an acting official shall issue a written acting assignment order in the Form to the acting official.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), if the period of the incident is 15 days or less, the issuance of a written acting assignment order may be omitted. In such cases, the person authorized to designate an acting official shall clearly notify the acting official of the designation, using the electronic personnel management system, internal communications network, or other appropriate means.
(4) The acting official shall perform the duties of the affected official during the period of the incident (or the period specified in the written acting assignment order, if such an order has been issued); provided, in the case of an acting assignment due to a vacancy, the appointing authority shall fill the vacant position as soon as possible to prevent the acting official's workload from becoming prolonged.
(5) In principle, an acting official shall perform the duties of the acting position concurrently with their originally assigned duties; provided, in any of the following cases, the acting official may be assigned to perform only the duties of the acting position without performing their originally assigned duties: <Amended on Mar. 23, 2013; Nov. 19, 2014; Dec. 27, 2022>
1. Where a public official who is scheduled for promotion (referring to cases where promotion review has been conducted) to a position with a job grade eligible for appointment to the position of the public official involved in an incident (referring to the Senior Executive Service, if the public official involved in the accident belongs to the Senior Executive Service) is assigned to perform the duties of the affected official in an acting capacity;
2. Where the competent Minister deems it especially necessary to assign an acting official to prevent a vacancy in duties. In such cases, the acting assignment shall be notified to the Minister of Personnel Management.
(6) Notwithstanding the latter part of paragraph (5) 2, if it is intended to designate a public official who is scheduled to undergo a review by the Senior Executive Appointment Review Committee under Article 28-6 (1) of the State Public Officials Act as the acting official for the position subject to such review, prior consultation shall be held with the Minister of Personnel Management. <Added on Dec. 27, 2022>
(7) The Minister of Personnel Management may recommend corrective action to the competent Minister if the acting assignment notified under the latter part of subparagraph 2 of paragraph 5 is deemed inappropriate. <Added on Dec. 27, 2022>
(8) An acting official shall not re-delegate his or her acting duty to another public official. <Amended on Dec. 27, 2022>
[This Article Wholly Amended on Jun. 7, 2011]
Article 7(Scope of authority of acting official) #
An acting official shall have all the authority of the official for whom he or she is acting, and shall bear the corresponding responsibilities.
[This Article Wholly Amended on Jun. 7, 2011]
Article 8(Delegation provisions) #
The head of an agency may establish and implement regulations regarding acting assignments within the relevant central administrative agency, etc., and its affiliated agencies, taking into account the characteristics of the organization and personnel management within the scope of this Decree.
[This Article Wholly Amended on Jun. 7, 2011]