Whether a representative of a juristic person who is a party to a civil lawsuit can be the subject of perjury if he/she has taken an oath and testified (negative)

Article 152(1) of the Criminal Act; Articles 64, 303, 367, and 372 of the Civil Procedure Act

[Plaintiff-Appellant] Plaintiff 1 et al. (Law Firm Gyeong, Attorneys Park Jae-soo et al., Counsel for plaintiff-appellant)

Defendant

Defendant

Law Firm Cheongng Law Firm, Attorney Gyeong Sung-sung et al.

Cheongju District Court Decision 2010No95 decided October 7, 2010

The judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to Cheongju District Court Panel Division.

We examine ex officio.

1. A party to a civil lawsuit cannot be the subject of perjury even if he/she has taken an oath and testified as a witness due to a lack of witness capacity, and such a legal doctrine applies likewise to a representative of a legal entity that is a party to a civil lawsuit (see Supreme Court Decision 97Do1168, Mar. 10, 1998).

2. The court below found the defendant guilty of the charges of this case that the defendant was present at the fourth day of pleading on December 5, 2007 in the Cheongju District Court 2006Kadan22050, which was brought against the non-indicted 1 corporation as the representative director of the non-indicted 1 corporation from February 5, 199, and that the non-indicted 1 corporation appeared as a witness and taken an oath on December 5, 2007 in the Cheongju District Court 2006Kadan22050, which was brought against the non-indicted 2.

3. In light of the above legal principles, if the defendant was the representative director of non-indicted 1 corporation who is the party to the lawsuit claiming the amount of indemnity at the time of testimony, he cannot be the subject of perjury even if the defendant testified after being sworn as a witness of the lawsuit claiming the amount of indemnity.

Nevertheless, the lower court erred by misapprehending the legal doctrine as to the subject of perjury, thereby adversely affecting the conclusion of the judgment.

4. Therefore, the lower judgment is reversed, and the case is remanded to the lower court for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion. It is so decided as per Disposition by the assent of all participating Justices on the bench.

Justices Lee In-bok (Presiding Justice)