Submitting Personal Information Without Consent During Trial... Supreme Court Rules "Justifiable Act"

Submission of 584 Resident Cards to Court
by Apartment Building Representative in Provisional Suspension Case

The Supreme Court has ruled that submitting evidence containing another person's personal information in order to prove an argument or exercise the right to defense during a trial constitutes a justifiable act.

Supreme Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

According to the legal community on September 5, the First Division of the Supreme Court (Presiding Justice Noh Taeak) overturned the original verdict that sentenced Mr. A, the head of an apartment building representatives' association in Daejeon, to a suspended fine for violating the Personal Information Protection Act, and remanded the case to the Daejeon District Court.

Mr. A was indicted on charges of submitting resident cards for 584 residents, which were kept at the management office, to the court as evidence in a provisional injunction case regarding the suspension of duties of the chairman of the residents' association and building representative, without obtaining the residents' consent. The resident cards contained personal information such as the head of household, occupation, vehicle number, family details, household members' dates of birth, phone numbers, and addresses.

Both the first and second trial courts found Mr. A guilty, ruling that his act of submitting the resident cards to the court constituted "providing and disclosing personal information to a third party."

However, the Supreme Court determined that Mr. A's actions were justifiable. The court stated, "When personal information is included in litigation documents or evidence submitted to the court to prove necessary claims or to exercise the right to defense against criminal charges during a trial, such actions do not violate social norms and may be exempt from illegality under Article 20 of the Criminal Act (Justifiable Act)."

The court further explained, "Whether an act is justifiable should be determined objectively and reasonably, taking into comprehensive consideration various factors such as the circumstances and purpose of collecting, retaining, and submitting the personal information; the party to whom the information was submitted; whether only the minimum necessary information was submitted to achieve the purpose; and the content of the personal information submitted."

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