Korea Legal Aid Corporation Provides Relief to Farmers Involved in Legal Disputes over 'Batttae-gi Contracts'

Expert: "Standard Contracts Must Be Written to Prepare for Future Disputes"

A farmer who was facing a situation where he had to pay 25 million won, part of the contract deposit, for "falsely reporting the cultivated area in a field sale" was relieved with the help of the Korea Legal Aid Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the Corporation). Experts advised that a standard contract should be written to prepare for potential disputes in the future.

According to the Corporation on the 9th, the 2-1 Civil Division of the Jeonju District Court (Presiding Judge Go Yeon-geum) upheld the original ruling that dismissed the claim of wholesaler A against farmer B in the appeal trial of a damages claim lawsuit filed on the grounds of "falsely reporting the cultivated area in a field sale."

In July 2020, B signed a contract with wholesaler A and sold watermelons he was cultivating in his vinyl greenhouse through a field sale (also known as ‘batttae-gi’). A paid the purchase price of 85 million won as per the contract, but when the shipment volume did not meet expectations, he filed a lawsuit.

A claimed, "If the land area recorded in the contract is 5,000 pyeong, normally 12,800 watermelons should be shipped, but only 8,300 were produced," and "After measuring the greenhouse area, the actual area was only 3,500 pyeong." A demanded 25 million won in damages corresponding to the missing 1,500 pyeong.

On the other hand, the Corporation representing B argued that a field sale contract is not a sale specifying quantity, and the risks such as failure to adjust the shipment timing after the contract and price drops should be borne by the wholesaler A.

The appellate court, like the original court, ruled in favor of farmer B. The court pointed out, "There is inevitably a difference between the land area and the area of the greenhouse installed on it," and "According to aerial photographs, the total land area in this case was about 5,300 pyeong."

Park Wang-gyu, a lawyer from the Corporation representing B, said, "When making a field sale contract, merchants often use their superior position to shift risks such as price drops, which they should bear, onto farmers, so contracts should be made carefully."

There is another case where a farmer was relieved from having to pay the contract deposit due to a dispute over a ‘batttae-gi’ contract.

C, who farms about 4,000 pyeong of cabbage in a rural area of Gyeongbuk, signed a field sale contract with agricultural corporation D for 28 million won in March last year. C received 14 million won as a contract deposit and interim payment.

However, when it was time to ship, D said, "The price of cabbage has plummeted, so we cannot ship," and "We will give up the rights to the cabbage, so handle it as you see fit."

Moreover, despite giving up contractual rights, D deceived by pretending that C did not fulfill the contract and terminated it, then transferred the claim to agricultural distributor E. E then filed a lawsuit against A, demanding repayment of the already paid 14 million won.

There are a total of 20 farmers, including C, who have been sued by E in this manner. The lawsuit amount reached about 500 million won.

Judge Kwak Dong-hoon of the Bonghwa County Court, Daegu District Court, dismissed the claim for payment filed by agricultural distributor E against farmer C. After this ruling, E withdrew all lawsuits against the remaining 19 farmers.

Attorney Wi Gwang-bok from the Corporation, who represented the lawsuit, advised, "When making a field sale contract, using the standard contract provided by local governments and carefully reviewing contract conditions can help prepare for future disputes."

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