Supreme Court Recognizes Owners' Right to File Lawsuits for Increased Compensation Even After Land Compensation Seizure

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The Supreme Court has ruled that even if compensation money for land is seized, the right to sue for the compensation money is maintained.

On the afternoon of the 24th, the Supreme Court en banc (Presiding Justice Ahn Cheolsang) upheld the appellate court's partial ruling in favor of the plaintiff in the final appeal filed by Company A against Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) regarding loss compensation.

Previously, Company A received over 6.8 billion won in business loss compensation after its factory site was expropriated for LH's housing project and filed an administrative lawsuit demanding additional compensation.

Company A won partial victories in both the first and second trials, but LH argued in the appeal that "Company A has debts and received seizure and collection orders on the compensation money before the second trial verdict," claiming "Company A does not have the standing to file the lawsuit."

The Supreme Court judged that compensation under the Land Compensation Act has a special nature distinct from general claims. It recognized that Company A "has the right to sue."

The court explained, "Once the Land Expropriation Committee calculates the compensation to be paid to the owner under the Land Compensation Act, any subsequent appeal lawsuit is filed against the project implementer, not the Land Expropriation Committee. Third parties holding claims against the landowner only have an indirect interest in the committee's decision and cannot be said to have legal standing to challenge the decision, thus cannot file a lawsuit to increase the compensation amount."

Furthermore, it emphasized, "If it is judged that Company A has lost the standing to sue in this situation and the lawsuit is dismissed, it would result in an unreasonable outcome where no one can file a lawsuit seeking an increase in the compensation amount."

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