2014No3078 Defamation

A person shall be appointed.

Prosecutor

Escopics (prosecutions) and handmans (public trial)

Daejeon District Court Decision 2013Da4345 Decided October 16, 2014

May 13, 2015

The prosecutor's appeal is dismissed.

1. Summary of grounds for appeal (misunderstanding of facts and misunderstanding of legal principles)

Although the contents in the Chinese letter sent by the defendant are true, it cannot be deemed that it is about the public interest. Nevertheless, the judgment of the court below which acquitted the defendant on the ground that Article 310 of the Criminal Act applies to the facts charged of defamation of this case and the illegality of the defamation of this case is eliminated is erroneous.

2. Determination:

A. Summary of the facts charged

The Defendant is Daejeon Dong-gu** a printed person who runs a printing company,* a general assembly* a local council member.

The defendant in the office 2013.2. 2. Dong Dong-gu* "I will inform you of the? Hen't inform you of the? Hen't know? this * Hen't inform you of the fact that the defendant was subject to the warning disposition on August 10, 201, and then was proposed to the Ministry of Health and Welfare ( August 24, 201)", "I think I would like to be a member of the *** I't inform you of the fact that I will not have access to the temporary assembly** 2's temporary assembly* I't inform you of the fact that I't have access to the temporary assembly** 2's temporary assembly* I't have access to the temporary assembly* 5's temporary assembly* I't have access to the temporary assembly* I't have access to the temporary assembly* 2's temporary assembly* I't have access to the temporary assembly* I't have contributed to the resolution of the problem.

As a result, the Defendant had damaged the honor of the victim* by openly pointing out facts.

B. The judgment of the court below

The court below found the defendant not guilty of the above facts charged in light of the following facts, history, and legal principles admitted by the evidence duly admitted and investigated.

1) According to the records, the defendant can recognize the fact that the letter was sent as shown in the above facts charged, and the fact that the statement of the letter was sent by the competent Gu office or controlled members' access to the center is likely to infringe on social value or evaluation. Thus, this act of the defendant constitutes the crime of defamation against this**.

2) However, if a person’s act of damaging a person’s reputation by openly pointing out a fact constitutes a true fact solely for the public interest, it cannot be punished pursuant to Article 310 of the Criminal Act. “At the same time” refers to the public interest when the alleged fact objectively appears, and an actor also states the fact subjectively for the public interest. It includes not only the public interest of the State, society, or many other general people, but also the interest and interest of a specific social group or its entire members. Whether the alleged fact concerns the public interest or not shall be determined by considering all the circumstances related to the expression itself, including the content and nature of the alleged fact, the scope of the party against whom the publication of the fact was made, the method of expression, etc., and by comparing and considering the degree of infringement of a person’s reputation that may be damaged or damaged by the expression, if the principal motive or purpose of the actor is for the public interest, the application of Article 310-24 of the Criminal Act shall not be excluded even if there is any incidental motive or motive for other private interest.

3) The following circumstances acknowledged by the records of this case, namely, ① the contents written by the Defendant in the Chinese language correspond to the objective statement (the prosecutor, who stated the facts charged in a false statement, recognized the facts indicated in the result of the examination of evidence as the truth and recognized the facts indicated in the evidence as the truth.

In his hand, the amendment of the bill of indictment was applied for defamation of facts, and this Court permitted it, ② The public interest as mentioned above is also included in the interests of a particular social group or the entire members of the Supreme Court.******* A dispute with members of the local assembly*** the above-mentioned facts charged, and the defendant sent the above letter to the members of the local council ******** the sending of the above letter to the members of the general assembly*** the local council **** the fact that the members of the local council are limited to the members of the local council ** the general assembly** the general assembly** the purpose of sending the letter as stated in the facts charged ** the whole members of the local council* the general assembly* the general assembly* the purpose of sending the letter as stated in Article 310 of the Criminal Act.

C. Judgment of the court below

In light of the following facts and circumstances acknowledged by the court below based on each evidence duly adopted and investigated by the court below, the above judgment of the court below is just and acceptable, and there is no error of misunderstanding of facts and misunderstanding of legal principles as alleged by the prosecutor. Therefore, the prosecutor's allegation of misunderstanding of facts and misunderstanding of legal principles is not accepted.

1) The contents written in the written letter in which the defendant was written are that the victim became subject to the imposition of the fine for negligence, or that the welfare center was operated if he operated the church ** the operation of the welfare center, caused legal disputes through lawsuits, obstructed the extraordinary general meeting, or passed through the center of the general assembly members. However, the above contents are not only true, but also public matters such as administrative disposition by the administrative agency or litigation at the legal level, and the entry of the general assembly or the meeting of the members of the general assembly is a part closely related to the affairs of the defendant and the victim ** the general assembly* the general assembly * the general assembly * the local assembly * the local assembly hereinafter referred to as the "general assembly of this case"). It does not seem that the contents irrelevant to the affairs of the local council (hereinafter referred to as the "general assembly of this case").

2) The Defendant’s sending of the above letter is the members of the instant general meeting. At the time of the occurrence of the instant case between the executives and members of the instant general meeting, including the Defendant and the victim, the dispute arose regarding the operation of the instant general meeting, such as the appointment of a general meeting president. The fact that the Defendant’s statement about the victim, who was in charge of the vice-chairperson at the time, was the same as the details of the Defendant’s statement about the above letter, is the data that may assist the members to present their appropriate opinions on the qualifications of this officer

3) When punishment is imposed as a crime of defamation even in a case where the facts supporting the operation of the organization and the proposal of opinions about the qualifications of officers are revealed, it would be difficult to raise legitimate problems to the existing executives, thereby hindering the sound development of the organization and suppressing the constructive criticism. The victim who is a pastors falsely * the fact that the victim was operating the church * is closely related to whether he is eligible to become an officer at the general assembly of this case, which is a church meeting of this case, and the fact that the victim played a leading role in filing a lawsuit in relation to the appointment of the general assembly of this case is also deemed to be the part that the members of the general assembly of this case should be informed. Accordingly, the act of the defendant preparing a letter, such as the statement of facts in his official document, and sending it to the members of the general assembly of this case constitutes the above legal grounds for misunderstanding as stipulated in Article 310 of the Criminal Act.

3. Conclusion

Therefore, the prosecutor's appeal is without merit, and it is dismissed in accordance with Article 364 (4) of the Criminal Procedure Act. It is so decided as per Disposition.

Judges of the presiding judge

Judges Park Jae-jin

Judges Man-man