Nevertheless, the lower court construed the meaning of “crimes prescribed by this Act” only as crimes that directly constitute constituent requirements and punishments under the Punishment of Violences, etc. Act, and rendered a not guilty verdict of violation of the Punishment of Violences, etc. Act among the facts charged in the instant case, thereby having erred by misapprehending the legal doctrine, which affected the conclusion of the judgment.

In light of the motive, background, content, form of act and risk, etc. of each of the instant offenses, the sentence of the lower court, which sentenced fines of KRW 2,00,000, and forfeiture, is too uneasible.

Judgment

(1) The legal principle of punishment requires that the crime and punishment should be determined by law in order to protect the freedom and rights of individuals from the arbitrary exercise of the state's penal authority.

In light of such purport, the interpretation of the penal laws and regulations shall be strict, and the interpretation or analogical interpretation of the meaning of the explicit penal laws and regulations in the direction unfavorable to the defendant is not permitted as they violate the principle of statutoryism (see, e.g., Supreme Court Decision 2011Do7725, Aug. 25, 2011). (2) Article 7 of the Punishment of Violences, etc. Act (amended by Act No. 13718, Jan. 6, 2016; hereinafter “Punishment of Violence Punishment Act”) provides “any person who carries, provides, or arranges the provision of, the deadly weapons or other dangerous articles that are likely to be used for a crime prescribed in this Act without justifiable grounds, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than three years or by a fine not exceeding three million won.

The term "" is defined in this section.

The term "this Act" in Article 7 of the Punishment of Violences Act means the Punishment of Violence Act.