10 Years Ago Incident Leads to Business License Cancellation... Government to Revise 'Enhanced Sanctions'

Cases Where the Same Regulation Was Applied Differently Between Central and Local Governments

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] To prevent excessive infringement of citizens' rights or abuse of administrative authority due to unclear aggravated sanction regulations, revisions to related laws and regulations are expected to be promoted in the future. Aggravated sanctions refer to administrative penalties that increase the severity of punishment when the same violation is repeated.

On the 8th, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced that it recommended 39 central administrative agencies to revise the criteria for aggravated sanctions. This recommendation came after a comprehensive survey of aggravated sanction regulations in 748 laws, analysis of Supreme Court precedents, and review of civil complaints.

The comprehensive survey revealed unclear aggravated sanction regulations and inconsistencies in their application across administrative agencies. The ACRC judged that such regulations lead to excessive infringement of citizens' rights.

The ACRC pointed out the lack of a 'period of occurrence' standard for illegal acts subject to aggravated sanctions as a problem. There is a possibility that a business license could be revoked now due to a violation that occurred 10 years ago. There were also cases where the same regulations were applied differently by central and local governments.

Accordingly, the ACRC urged that the 'accumulation period for illegal acts' subject to aggravated sanctions be clearly defined. In particular, it recommended shortening the accumulation period for minor violations directly related to livelihoods, while extending the period for violations related to public health and safety.

Yang Jongsam, Director of the Policy Improvement Bureau at the ACRC, said, "This institutional improvement will secure uniformity in the application of aggravated sanctions, which were previously applied inconsistently, and prevent infringement of citizens' rights caused by excessive administration."

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