Secret Recordings Not Allowed, but "Adultery Text" Photos Permitted...Supreme Court Recognizes Evidence in Civil Cases

"Probative Value Outweighs Privacy Concerns"
Audio Recordings of In-Car Conversations Excluded as Evidence

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The Supreme Court has ruled that a photo showing a screenshot of mobile phone text messages containing evidence of a spouse's infidelity can be used as evidence in a civil lawsuit.

The Supreme Court's Second Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) announced on May 15 that it had finalized the previous court's partial ruling in favor of the plaintiff on April 30, in a damages lawsuit filed by Mr. A against three individuals, including Mr. B, who had engaged in an illicit relationship with Mr. A's spouse.

In 2019, while in the midst of divorce proceedings, Mr. A secretly installed a recording device in the spouse's car and recorded conversations between the spouse and Mr. B. Mr. A also took photos of text messages, pictures, and videos stored on the spouse's mobile phone using his own mobile device.

In January 2022, Mr. A submitted this material as evidence in a claim for damages against Mr. B and others, seeking compensation for emotional distress caused by the spouse's affair.

The Supreme Court did not recognize the admissibility of the audio files recorded in the car. According to the Protection of Communications Secrets Act, it is prohibited to record "undisclosed conversations between other parties," and such recordings cannot be used as evidence.

However, the court reached a different conclusion regarding the photos taken of the mobile phone's messages and pictures. The Supreme Court stated, "Even if evidence was collected illegally, it cannot be categorically denied admissibility in civil proceedings." This is because, unlike the Criminal Procedure Act, the Civil Procedure Act does not contain provisions that exclude the admissibility of illegally collected evidence.

In this case, the Supreme Court determined that the probative value of the evidence outweighed concerns about invasion of privacy. Mr. A obtained the evidence while divorce proceedings were ongoing under circumstances that justifiably aroused suspicion of infidelity, and due to the nature of adultery cases, personal materials necessarily become evidence.

Meanwhile, the admissibility of "secret recordings" as evidence has also been a point of contention in the case involving a special education teacher accused of abusing the son of webtoon artist Ju Ho-min. While the teacher received a suspended sentence in the first trial, the appeals court acquitted the teacher, ruling that the audio files obtained by Mr. Ju's side—who had placed a recording device in his son's clothing—could not be admitted as evidence. This case is currently under review by the Supreme Court.

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