1. According to Article 16 of the Grain Management Act, a person who intends to engage in the business of processing grain as a raw material shall obtain permission from the Government under the conditions as prescribed by the Presidential Decree, and Article 14 (1) 1 of the Enforcement Decree of the same Act provides that a person who intends to engage in the business of processing grain as a raw material shall be engaged in the powder processing business (referring to the business of manufacturing powder using grains other than documents as raw material) and obtain permission from the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. Meanwhile, Article 21 of the same Act provides that the authority of the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries under this Act shall be delegated to the Mayor of Seoul Special Metropolitan City, the Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City, or the Do governor under the conditions as prescribed by the Presidential Decree. Article 18 (1) 4 of the Enforcement Decree of the same Act provides that the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries shall delegate to the Mayor of Seoul Special Metropolitan City, the Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City, or the Do governor the authority of the Minister of Food and Drug Affairs concerning the permission of the kind processing business of grain, the large-scale business (referring to Chapter 5 of the Enforcement Decree).

2. However, according to the records, the head of Seoul Special Metropolitan City Mayor may recognize the fact that the head of the competent Gu, who received a report from an unauthorized processor under the amended Enforcement Decree of the above Act, delegated the permission of small grain processing business to the head of the competent Gu. Thus, the administrative disposition that the head of the Gu, who did not pass after the internal delegation from the head of the Seoul Special Metropolitan City Mayor, decided the non-acceptance under his name, shall be deemed illegal. However, unless there are special provisions in Articles 1 and 3 of the Administrative Litigation Act, the administrative litigation is filed against the administrative agency that issued the above disposition to the defendant. Thus, the head of the competent Gu, who did not accept the report in this case, must seek cancellation, modification, or invalidation, and the head of the competent Gu, who did not comply with the above disposition in this administrative litigation, shall not become the defendant. Nevertheless, the decision of the court below, which rejected the report of the plaintiffs without permission by the head of the competent Gu, shall be deemed to be a disposition without the authority of grave and apparent, and it shall be deemed null and void and void.

Therefore, the judgment of the court below is reversed and remanded to the court below for a new trial. It is so decided as per Disposition by the assent of all participating Justices.

Justices Jeong Tae-won (Presiding Justice)