Gyeonggi Fire Department Legal Support Team Nearly Reached 1,000 Cases of 'Legal Consultation and Advice' Last Year

Legal Support Consultation for Firefighting Activities by Gyeonggi Fire Department Legal Support Team

The 'Gyeonggi Firefighting Legal Support Team,' launched in 2018 to provide legal support for firefighting activities of Gyeonggi-do fire officials, reportedly carried out over 1,000 support activities last year.

The Provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters announced on the 11th that the Gyeonggi Firefighting Legal Support Team handled a total of 982 cases last year, including 736 legal consultations, 215 legal advisories, 14 legal accompaniments, and 15 other cases. This represents an increase of 317 cases, or 47.7%, compared to the previous year (665 cases).

The Gyeonggi Firefighting Legal Support Team was established in March 2018 to assist fire officials in responding to various legal disputes. Currently, the team is led by the Fire Audit Division Chief and consists of seven members, all former lawyers. Their duties include legal review and advisory services, legal consultations, and accompanying personnel as witnesses, suspects, or persons of interest. Supporting various lawsuits, reviewing ordinances, and contracts are also among the team's responsibilities.

Thanks to the support of the Legal Support Team, fire officials who became involved in legal disputes after responding to fire and emergency scenes have been repeatedly cleared with 'no charges' decisions.

Additionally, the team's role has become increasingly prominent, as seen when paramedics summoned as witnesses in civil trials related to patient insurance claims received legal consultations and court accompaniment, prompting messages of gratitude on the internal staff bulletin board.

Jo Sun-ho, head of the Provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters, stated, "The legal field is difficult for non-legal professionals to access, but the Legal Support Team alleviates the hardships of the firefighting family by providing diverse legal support." He added, "We will regularly hold roundtable meetings to discuss ways to activate and operate the Legal Support Team and appoint additional external advisory lawyers to ensure that legal support activities can be carried out more broadly without hesitation."

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