A Supreme Court ruling has stated that the removal of a banner opposing the redevelopment committee by its chairman cannot be punished as interference with business operations. The Supreme Court emphasized the need for caution in punishing acts of hindering the expression of opinions or opposition views in adversarial relationships under the criminal law regarding obstruction of business.
According to the legal community on the 17th, the Supreme Court’s third division (Presiding Justice Lee Heung-gu) overturned the previous ruling that fined Shin Mo, the chairman of a redevelopment committee in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, who was on trial for charges of interference with business and property damage, and sent the case back to the Seoul Southern District Court.
In September 2019, the chairman of the landlords’ council, who opposed the redevelopment committee, put up three banners in Yeongdeungpo-gu advising landlords not to attend the committee’s general meeting. Shin was prosecuted for allegedly obstructing the promotion of the landlords’ council’s position by removing the banners.
Contrary to the first trial, which acquitted Shin, the second trial acknowledged his charges of business obstruction and fined him 2 million won. However, the Supreme Court overturned the second ruling, stating that “it is difficult to see the act of the victim (landlords’ council chairman) installing banners to inform landlords of the council’s position as ‘work’ protected under the offense of interference with business.”
The Supreme Court explained that “installing a banner to convey a fact or opinion as a part of simple expression, which is not based on one’s job or social status, cannot be considered ‘work’ protected by the charge of obstruction of business.”
However, if such an act is part of or closely related to the ongoing original duties, it may be considered ‘work.’ This determination should be made by comprehensively considering the type and nature of the work, the timing and location of the banner placement, and the relationship between the content of the banner and the work.