Court to Decide as Early as Next Week on Injunction Cases Against 'Quarantine Pass' Enforcement at Large Marts and Restaurants

During lunch time on the past 3rd, citizens are checking the validity status of their quarantine passes at a restaurant in downtown Seoul where the quarantine pass validity period is applied. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The court is expected to decide as early as next week whether to maintain the policy effectiveness of the quarantine pass (vaccine certificate and negative test confirmation system) introduced to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

On the afternoon of the 7th, the Administrative Court of Seoul, Administrative Division 4 (Chief Judge Han Won-kyo) held a hearing for the injunction (suspension of effect) application filed by Professor Jo Doohyung of Yeungnam University College of Medicine, medical professionals, religious figures, and 1,023 others against the Minister of Health and Welfare, the Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the Mayor of Seoul, and others.

Once the hearing for the injunction application concludes, the procedure will be completed without the need to amend the court session, as the court will notify both parties of the decision. A conclusion can be reached anytime after the submission deadline set for the 10th.

On this day, lawyers Do Tae-woo and Yoon Yong-jin representing Professor Jo and government representatives engaged in a debate over the effectiveness of the quarantine pass and infringement of fundamental rights. Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, appeared in court in his capacity as a litigation representative for the Ministry of Health and Welfare to present the government's position.

Professor Jo’s representatives argued, "98% of pregnant women are unvaccinated, and from the 10th, they will not even be able to buy baby formula at supermarkets," adding, "Although countless people use the subway without quarantine passes being applied, applying the quarantine pass to relatively less crowded large supermarkets is unfair." They also stated, "The government claims vaccines are safe, but there have been 1,470 reported cases of death after receiving the first and second doses of the vaccine."

On the other hand, the government side countered, "The quarantine pass is an effective means to reduce the risk of death," explaining, "When the quarantine pass was first expanded during the COVID-19 surge in December last year, the daily number of confirmed cases dropped from over 7,000 to the mid-3,000s, and the daily number of critically ill patients decreased from the mid-1,000s to the 700s."

In response to the court’s question about "what public interest the quarantine pass aims to achieve," the government answered, "To control the COVID-19 outbreak and prevent the collapse of the medical system."

Earlier, on the 31st of last month, Professor Jo and citizens filed an administrative lawsuit and applied for an injunction, arguing that the government’s quarantine pass infringes on fundamental rights and unfairly forces vaccination without proper clinical trials.

This case disputes the effectiveness of the quarantine pass for most facilities such as stores, supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, movie theaters, sports stadiums, PC rooms, and more. If the court accepts this injunction application, the effectiveness of the quarantine pass will likely be suspended in most facilities until the main lawsuit’s verdict is issued. However, the applicants excluded entertainment and nightlife facilities from the injunction application.

Meanwhile, on the 4th, another court division decided to suspend the effectiveness of the government’s quarantine pass only as applied to educational facilities.

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