The defendant's appeal is dismissed.

1. The gist of the grounds for appeal is that the Defendant, “Ihovah’s Witness,” refused enlistment in active service according to a religious conscience, and the Defendant’s conscientious objection is guaranteed pursuant to Article 19 of the Constitution and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. As such, the refusal of enlistment by the Defendant is “justifiable cause” under Article 88(1) of the Military Service Act.

Therefore, the judgment of the court below convicting the facts charged of this case is erroneous in the misapprehension of legal principles.

2. As to the so-called “justifiable conscience”, the Constitutional Court decided that Article 88(1) of the Military Service Act, which is a provision punishing the act of evading enlistment, does not violate the Constitution (see Constitutional Court Order 2008Hun-Ga22, Aug. 30, 201). The Supreme Court did not constitute “justifiable cause” as provided for the exception to punishment under the above provision. From the provision of Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which the Republic of Korea is a party, the right to be exempted from the application of the above provision is not derived from the provision of Article 18 of the "Rules on Civil and Political Rights,” and it does not have any legal binding force even if the United Nations Commission on the ICCPR proposed recommendations (see Supreme Court Decision 2004Do2965, Jul. 15, 2004; Supreme Court Decision 2007Do781, Dec. 27, 2007).

3. In conclusion, the defendant's appeal is dismissed in accordance with Article 364 (4) of the Criminal Procedure Act on the grounds that the defendant's appeal is without merit. It is so decided as per Disposition.