Plaintiff 1 and 22 others (Law Firm East, Attorney Cho Young- Line, Counsel for the plaintiff-appellant)

Republic of Korea (Government Law Firm Corporation, Attorneys Lee In-hae, Counsel for defendant-appellant)

September 26, 2014

1. The Defendant shall pay to the Plaintiffs 5% interest per annum from March 14, 2014 to November 7, 2014, and 20% interest per annum from November 8, 2014 to the date of full payment.

2. The plaintiffs' remaining claims are dismissed.

3. 30% of the costs of lawsuit shall be borne by the plaintiffs, and 70% by the defendants.

4. Paragraph 1 can be provisionally executed.

The defendant shall pay to the plaintiffs 5% interest per annum on each of the money listed in attached Table 8 and each of them from the date following the date of service of a copy of the complaint of this case to the date of service of a copy of the complaint of this case, and 20% interest per annum from the next day to the date of complete payment (the plaintiff is entitled to pay to the plaintiffs 5% interest per annum on each of the money listed in attached Table 9 and 20% interest per annum from the next day to the date of service of a copy of the complaint of this case as to each of the money listed in attached Table 9, respectively, but this is merely a claim for payment of money, and it does not constitute a separate preliminary claim).

1. Basic facts

A. Plaintiffs 16 and 17 in the case of the South Korean Spy Group, and the remaining Plaintiffs were convicted of a violation of each emergency measure, and were judged not guilty through the retrial procedure. The above Plaintiffs filed a claim for criminal compensation with the court that received the judgment of innocence, which was rendered by each of the above Plaintiffs, under the Criminal Compensation and Restoration of Honor Act (hereinafter “Criminal Compensation Act”), and received a decision to accept criminal compensation from the court of various levels (hereinafter “each of the instant compensation decisions”; and according to each of the instant compensation decisions, the Defendant’s payment of compensation to the Plaintiffs is “each of the instant compensation.” Each of the instant compensation decisions and the detailed details of each of the instant compensation by each of the Plaintiffs are as indicated in the attached Table).

B. The defendant was confirmed each of the compensation decision of this case, and received a claim for payment from the plaintiffs according to the procedure set forth in the Criminal Compensation Act, as shown in attached Table 5, but the payment of each of the compensation of this case was delayed due to budget, etc. and completed several months after the date on which the claim for payment was received (the date of detailed payment is as listed in attached Table 6).

[Ground of recognition] Unsatisfy, each entry of Gap evidence 1 to 20, including each number, and the purport of the whole pleadings

2. The plaintiff and the defendant's assertion

A. The plaintiffs' assertion

Since the defendant bears specific monetary payment obligations against the plaintiffs as a result of each compensation decision of this case, each of the defendant's obligation to pay compensation of this case to the plaintiffs of this case has already arrived by the court of each level, or at least the time when the plaintiffs requested the payment to the prosecutor's office corresponding to the court corresponding to each level which made the decision of compensation of this case. Therefore, the defendant is liable to pay each of the amounts stated in attached Table 8 (Calculation of interest from the day after the date of each decision of compensation of this case) or 9 (Calculation of interest from the day after the date of each request for payment to the prosecutor's office) as well as damages for delay.

B. Defendant’s assertion

Since the obligation of the Defendant to pay compensation to the Plaintiffs is specifically recognized by the Criminal Compensation Act, which is a special law, the obligation to pay compensation for the Plaintiffs, due to each of the instant compensation decisions, the damages for delay or its starting point can only be recognized by the provision or interpretation of the relevant special law.

However, the Criminal Compensation Act provides that the court shall make a decision of compensation on the claim of the defendant or suspect who has been acquitted, and there is no provision on the interest for delay in the payment of compensation. Thus, the plaintiffs' claim based on the premise that the plaintiffs can claim the interest for delay on each of the compensation of this case against the defendant due to the decision of compensation of this case cannot be accepted. In addition, the essence of the right to claim compensation of this case is compensation for losses, but there is no legislation that recognizes compensation for delay, and even in light of the fact that it is difficult to meet the increase in the current application for criminal compensation, the plaintiffs' claim cannot be accepted.

3. Determination

(a)whether any damages for delay have been incurred;

The provisions allowing the defendant, who was rendered a judgment of not guilty in the Criminal Compensation Act, to claim criminal compensation against the court, have been legislated so that he/she can actually exercise the right to claim criminal compensation guaranteed in Article 28 of the Constitution. Accordingly, each provision of the Criminal Compensation Act should be interpreted in consideration of the above points. In addition to the above interpretation criteria and the reasons that are seen below, each provision of the Criminal Compensation Act should be interpreted in light of the above points. Considering that the defendant delayed the payment of each of the compensation in this case to the defendant notwithstanding each of the compensation decisions in this case, the plaintiffs obtain a claim against the defendant for prohibition of overdue interest on each of the compensation in this case.

1) If the Defendant, whose judgment of innocence became final and conclusive due to retrial, etc., filed a claim for criminal compensation and the court rendered a decision citing it, the Defendant’s claim for criminal compensation is changed to a specific claim for monetary payment, and the State is obliged to pay the Defendant a specific monetary payment by its decision. This is apparent even based on the text of each decision on compensation in this case

2) As long as the State’s obligation is changed to and confirmed as specific monetary payment obligation, regardless of the legal nature of the claim for criminal compensation (in cases where the claim for criminal compensation is not a claim for damages against unlawful law enforcement, even if it is not a claim for damages), the individual who is the claimant for the pertinent decision on criminal compensation shall obtain individual monetary payment claim against the State, and it shall not be treated differently from general cases where an individual acquires a claim

3) The Criminal Compensation Act is an Act to specifically realize and guarantee the right to claim the compensation recognized by the Constitution, and the right to claim the compensation is not established by the above Act. Therefore, if the payment of compensation is delayed under the Criminal Compensation Act, it cannot be deemed that the Plaintiffs’ right to claim the payment of interest in arrears against each of the instant compensation is limited on the ground that there is no provision regarding

4) As seen in the separate text of the Criminal Compensation Act, according to the Criminal Compensation Act, the court determines after hearing the opinion of the prosecutor after claiming the compensation of the defendant, and provides the procedure for the prosecutor to deliver a written decision after making the decision. As such, the State may anticipate the occurrence of the obligation to pay criminal compensation sufficiently in the process, and it is not unreasonable to recognize interest in arrears. In addition, as long as an individual acquired a specific claim to pay money to the State as seen above, the State may not be deemed to be exempt from the obligation to pay interest

(b) Scope of interest in arrears;

However, as seen in the separate law, Article 21 of the Criminal Compensation Act requires the public prosecutor's office corresponding to the court which made the decision of compensation to file a claim for payment of compensation, along with the written decision of compensation, to submit a written claim for payment of compensation. This is interpreted as a provision stipulating the specific period of implementation for the payment of compensation due to the decision of compensation. Pursuant to this provision, interest in arrears of each of the compensation in this case shall be determined from the date following the plaintiffs filed a claim for payment of each of the compensation in this case

Therefore, the defendant is obligated to pay the amount stated in attached Table 9 (the amount of interest for delay calculated from the day after the day specified in attached Table 6 for each of the compensation in this case) to the plaintiffs and the delay damages.

4. Conclusion

Therefore, the defendant is obligated to pay the plaintiffs the amount of the interest in arrears listed in attached Table 9 (hereinafter "the interest in arrears of this case") and each of them on March 14, 2014, which is the day following the date of delivery of the complaint of this case (the plaintiff's attorney is claiming damages for delayed payment of the interest in this case from the date of request for criminal compensation payment of attached Table 5, but the defendant's obligation to pay the interest in this case falls under the obligation not specified in the Civil Act and is liable for delay from the time of receiving the claim. Thus, this part of the claim is not acceptable) from November 7, 2014, which is the date of the judgment of this case until November 7, 2014, and from the following day to the date of full payment (the Civil Act) to the date of payment.

The plaintiffs' claims of this case are accepted only within the scope of the above recognition.

[Attachment]

Judges Lee Jin-hwa