Amendments to waive height requirements for participation in civil service special exams for police officers were approved by the Examination Yuan on Thursday and would take effect starting from next year’s exams.
The decision stemmed from a case in 2018 when a woman surnamed Chen (陳) passed the civil service special examination for general police officers that year, but she was disqualified from training at the National Fire Agency the next year due to her height of 158.9cm, which is lower than the minimum required height of 160cm for female examinees stipulated in Paragraph 1, Article 8 of Civil Service Special Examination Regulations for General Police Officers (公務人員特種考試一般警察人員考試規則).
The regulations also specify a height requirement of at least 165cm for male examinees.
Photo: Taipei Times
Chen filed a petition to the Constitutional Court for review of her case following an unsuccessful administrative litigation.
On May 31, the height requirements were ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and would cease to have validity by a year from the ruling at the latest.
The Examination Yuan has invited the employing agencies, including the Ministry of the Interior and the Ocean Affairs Council, to jointly review their regulations and discuss improvements, with a meeting hosted by Examination Yuan President Chou Hung-hsien (周弘憲) held on Thursday.
Thursday’s meeting approved amendments to Article 8 of Civil Service Special Examination Regulations for Police Officers (公務人員特種考試警察人員考試規則) and articles 8 and 11 of Civil Service Special Examination Regulations for General Police Officers, lifting restrictions on examinees’ height for both exams from next year.
The Examination Yuan said in a statement that the regulations were amended in line with the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
To recruit more talent for firefighting, law enforcement and the coast guard, the Ministry of the Interior and the council advised the Ministry of Examination to remove height requirements for applicants to both exams, it said.
Given that police officers’ duties vary with social change, such as increased digital crimes, stature would not be as critical to their performance for all positions as before, it said.
The Executive Yuan approved the amendments to ensure people’s rights to equity, civil service exams and to hold public office, as well as to meet the employing agencies’ demand for talent, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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