Kazakhstan's Constitutional Court has reviewed the constitutionality of a provision in the Labor Code that allows an employment contract to be terminated with an employee who performs educational functions for an immoral offense incompatible with continued work. The case was prompted by a complaint from a woman dismissed on the basis of a school pedagogical ethics council decision, infohub.kz reports.
The applicant disagreed with the council's decision and tried to challenge it through a conciliation commission and the courts, but the rulings remained unchanged.
"According to the applicant, the absence of clear legal elements and objective criteria for an immoral offense allows broad discretion in applying the provision and violates her right to work and to judicial protection," the court said.
The Constitutional Court noted that legislation already sets requirements for the moral conduct of employees performing educational functions. In particular, this concerns the rules of pedagogical ethics and liability for violating them.
The court also explained why the concept of an immoral offense cannot have an exhaustive definition.
"The concept of 'immoral offense' is by its nature evaluative, so its content cannot be exhaustively set out through a closed list of actions. Assessing an offense requires taking into account the circumstances of a specific case, as well as the social, cultural and professional context. The court concluded that the concept used has sufficient normative certainty to be applied with regard to specific circumstances. The court noted that the applicant used the legal mechanisms available to protect her rights by applying to a conciliation commission and the courts," the court added.