KCCI Submits Opinion Letter on 'Serious Accidents Punishment Act' to National Assembly: "Unmanageable Excessive Legislation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Korea Employers Federation (KEF) submitted its business community opinions on the 'Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act' to the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 24th. The ruling party decided to hold a subcommittee meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the same day to review the related bill.

In its opinion letter, KEF emphasized that "the Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act is an excessive law that uniquely stipulates individual management responsibility as subject to legal obligations and punishment worldwide."

From a legal system perspective, KEF pointed out that "while the Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act prescribes the same criminal elements as the Occupational Safety and Health Act, it imposes heavier penalties and targets, raising a high risk of unconstitutionality. The overlapping application of the two laws causes confusion and reduces the effectiveness of accident prevention." It added, "As a special law, the Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act should strictly define the scope of punishment and its elements, but it has the same punishment requirements as the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Moreover, despite identical punishment requirements, it prescribes excessive penalties that disrupt the balance in the penal system, violating the constitutional 'principle of equality.'"

KEF stated that the Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act "inevitably imposes harsh penalties on management responsibility holders (corporate CEOs and directors) and prime contractors for all accident outcomes," and that "the National Assembly is pushing for the enactment of the bill despite seriously violating the basic principles and doctrines of the Constitution and criminal law."

Specifically, KEF explained, "Punishing management responsibility holders and prime contractors unconditionally for accidents beyond their control clearly violates the criminal law principle of 'responsibility doctrine.'"

It further noted, "The law does not specifically define the preventive standards that management responsibility holders and prime contractors must observe, which contradicts the constitutional principle that laws restricting citizens' fundamental rights must be clear." In particular, KEF pointed out that "this also violates the modern criminal law principle of 'nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege' (no crime, no punishment without law), which requires crimes and penalties to be stipulated in advance by law."

Regarding the severity of penalties, KEF explained, "Compared to criminal law, which strictly holds individuals accountable for negligence, the level of punishment and sanctions is excessively high, potentially violating the constitutional 'principle of prohibition of excess' and 'principle of equality.'"

KEF warned that "if the Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act passes the National Assembly, unclear obligations and excessive statutory penalties will cause social confusion due to increased litigation rather than enhancing industrial accident prevention. Small and medium-sized enterprises, where most fatal accidents occur, will face unbearable burdens, leading to numerous side effects." It emphasized, "Given that Korea's current prevention policy level is considerably behind other countries, it is a more urgent task for Korea to shift the paradigm of industrial safety policy to a preventive approach, as seen in the United Kingdom, to effectively reduce fatal accidents."

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