Supreme Court Sentencing Commission Raises Sentencing Guidelines Ahead of General Election: 'Fines for Election Crimes to Increase'

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Ahead of the April general elections, the sentencing guidelines for fines related to election crimes will be increased.

The Sentencing Commission under the Supreme Court held its 99th plenary session on the 6th and announced on the 7th that it had finalized the "Revised Sentencing Guidelines for Election Crimes."

According to the sentencing guidelines, for election offenders involved in "bribery for financial gain or candidate bribery," the upper limit of fines has been raised from the previous 15 million KRW to 25 million KRW. Under the Public Official Election Act, bribery refers to providing financial benefits or specific positions to induce a candidate to withdraw or give up candidacy.

Bribery for financial gain means that a candidate gives up candidacy or withdraws from candidacy with the intention of obtaining financial benefits. Both the person providing and the person receiving the benefits are subject to punishment, and even promises to provide benefits are punishable.

The Sentencing Commission raised the upper limits of fines according to the type of bribery. The upper limit for "general bribery by candidates, etc." increased from 7 million KRW to 20 million KRW, for "general bribery and bribery related to party candidate recommendations" from 5 million KRW to 15 million KRW, and for "bribery related to intra-party primaries" from 3 million KRW to 5 million KRW.

Accordingly, election offenders caught before and after the April general elections are expected to be subject to the stricter new sentencing guidelines. The revised sentencing guidelines for election crimes will be implemented from February 1st after being published in the official gazette.

In addition, the Sentencing Commission is also considering separating cases where a person is hit due to drunk driving from the previous "general traffic accident" category and establishing a new category called "dangerous driving traffic accident." For the crime of dangerous driving causing death, the upper limit of the aggravated sentencing range has been set at 8 years imprisonment (previously, the upper limit for aggravated general traffic accident causing death was 3 years).

For cases with high blameworthiness, it is planned to recommend special adjustments to impose sentences up to a maximum of 12 years imprisonment. For dangerous driving causing injury, the upper limit has been raised to 5 years imprisonment, and special adjustments allow punishment up to a maximum of 7 years and 6 months imprisonment. Sentencing guidelines for sexual crimes under the Military Criminal Act will also be newly established.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.