Supreme Court to Raise Penalties Under Serious Accidents Punishment Act

Court penalties for employers or management responsible for violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act will be increased going forward. The Sentencing Commission of the Supreme Court has newly established specific sentencing guidelines for violations of this act, a measure aimed at strengthening safety management responsibilities in industrial sites and increasing predictability of punishment when accidents occur. The Sentencing Commission held its 145th plenary meeting on the 11th and deliberated on an amendment to add 'serious accident crimes' to the sentencing guidelines for crimes causing death or injury through negligence and industrial safety and health offenses. The Sentencing Commission decided to establish 'serious accident crimes' within the existing categories of crimes causing death or injury through negligence and industrial safety and health offenses, and to set up two sub-categories: causing injury in a serious industrial accident and causing death in a serious industrial accident. The amendment includes a proposal to increase penalties by 1.5 times for repeat offenses within five years of a serious industrial accident crime being confirmed. The Sentencing Commission has prepared a classification scheme that maximizes the use of existing sentencing guidelines while reflecting the characteristics of crimes violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, and has established a separate major category to allow for flexible responses by expanding the scope in the future if sentencing cases related to causing death or injury in serious civil accidents accumulate. 'Serious civil accidents,' which are large-scale disasters affecting ordinary citizens through products, facilities, or transportation, were excluded from the sentencing guidelines as there have been no cases of punishment to date.

Separately, the Sentencing Commission has also decided to newly establish sentencing guidelines for 'emergency medical, rescue, and first-aid crimes.' The targeted offenses include assault of medical personnel under the Emergency Medical Services Act, obstruction of consultation, rescue, or transport, obstruction of firefighting activities by using force under the Fire Service Act, obstruction of fire truck dispatch, and obstruction of rescue and first-aid activities under the 119 Act. This crime category has been named 'Crimes obstructing emergency medical care, rescue, and first aid.' Sentencing guidelines refer to the range of recommended penalties determined by the Supreme Court for each type of crime.

The Sentencing Commission will hold its 146th meeting on the 22nd of next month to deliberate on amendments to sentencing guidelines for traffic offenses, and sentencing guidelines for violations of the Loan Business Act and the Debt Collection Act.