The national human rights panel yesterday vowed to take legal action against the government's plan to slash its staff by 21 percent.

The Ministry of Public Administration and Security has ordered the National Human Rights Commission to trim its 208 staff to 164.

The ministry's revised decree for the downsizing was passed at the vice ministerial meeting on Thursday and will take effect if it is approved at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The rights watchdog held an emergency meeting yesterday and agreed to file for the Constitutional Court's judgment on whether the MOPAS has jurisdiction over its organization.

"The ministry's revised bill has serious flaws in terms of procedure and content," the NHRC chairperson Ahn Kyong-whan said in a press briefing.

"The MOPAS never consulted with us or provided specific reasons for the restructuring."

The ministry claims it has the authority to reorganize the NHRC, but the law that governs the human rights panel stands above the MOPAS decree, Ahn said.

"If the plan goes through, it would cause a major operational vacuum for the NHRC and possibly lead to a backward step for Korea's rights conditions."

The panel called on President Lee Myung-bak to resolve the matter reasonably. Ahn requested for a meeting with the president to report on the current situation.

The NHRC was launched in 2001 to promote the protection of human rights in the country. Although its recommendations are not legally binding, they serve to induce self-correcting measures.

The commission has made some groundbreaking decisions. It called for abolishing the anti-communist National Security Law, which was abused in the past to suppress anti-government protesters, repealing the death penalty and allowing conscientious military service objectors to do alternative service.

Some of its rulings have been at odds with the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration on politically sensitive issues. The watchdog concluded the police violated human rights by using excessive force in cracking down on protesters against U.S. beef imports last year.