Supreme Court: "Employee Obstructing Exercise of Retention Right Constitutes Interference with Right Exercise"
[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] The Supreme Court has ruled that even if an employee who is not the representative but has job-related authority obstructs a lien on a building owned by the company, the crime of obstruction of exercise of rights is established.
On the 16th, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Kim Sanghwan) announced that in the appeal trial of Mr. A, who was indicted on charges including obstruction of exercise of rights and trespassing, it overturned the lower court's ruling of not guilty on the obstruction charge, ruling it as guilty, and remanded the case to the Seoul Southern District Court.
Mr. A's company won the bid for an apartment through a public auction in October 2018. This apartment had been subject to a lien exercised by Company B, which had not received construction payments since 2015.
Mr. A, the company's head of management, was on trial for removing the lien notice posted on the apartment door and damaging the lock using a drill. The first trial court found Mr. A guilty of three charges: document damage, trespassing, and obstruction of exercise of rights, sentencing him to 8 months in prison with a 2-year probation.
However, in the second trial, only the obstruction of exercise of rights charge was acquitted among the three charges. The obstruction of exercise of rights applies when "one damages their own property, which is the object of the right, to obstruct another's exercise of rights," and the court judged that the apartment owned by the company did not qualify as Mr. A's "own property."
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However, the Supreme Court reversed the ruling, pointing out that considering Mr. A's job authority, he can be punished for obstruction of exercise of rights. The court stated, "Mr. A, as the head of management, was overseeing company operations and was responsible for real estate rental management," and "Mr. A's actions are no different from those of the representative in relation to his duties."
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