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The judgment of the court below is reversed.
Defendant shall be punished by a fine of KRW 300,000.
The above fine shall not be paid by the defendant.
Reasons
1. Summary of grounds for appeal;
A. The Defendant, while cleaning the street, was in dispute with the victim who attached illegal advertisements on the road, and the victim’s chest was tightly pushed down.
Since the defendant's act does not violate the social rules, it constitutes a legitimate act.
B. The lower court’s sentence of unreasonable sentencing (the fine of KRW 500,000) is too unreasonable.
2. We examine ex officio the grounds for appeal prior to the judgment ex officio.
According to the records, the defendant was sentenced to imprisonment with prison labor of one year and six months at the Gwangju District Court on July 12, 2019 for the obstruction of performance of official duties, etc. and the judgment became final and conclusive on November 15, 2019.
As the crime in the judgment of the court below against the defendant is a concurrent crime with the above crime for which judgment has become final and the latter part of Article 37 of the Criminal Act, a sentence should be imposed in consideration of equity with the case where judgment is rendered at the same time pursuant to Article 39(1) of the Criminal Act, so the judgment
However, even if there are such reasons for ex officio reversal, the defendant's assertion of misapprehension of legal principles is still subject to the judgment of this court.
3. Judgment on the Defendant’s assertion of misapprehension of legal principles
A. "Act which does not violate social norms" under Article 20 of the Criminal Code refers to an act which can be accepted in light of the overall spirit of legal order or the social ethics or social norms in its hinterland. Whether certain act is a legitimate act that does not violate social norms and thus, the illegality of the act is excluded should be determined individually and reasonably under specific circumstances. The following requirements are the legitimacy of the motive or purpose of the act, the reasonableness of the means or method of the act, the balance between the third protected benefit and infringed benefit, the fourth urgency, and the fifth supplementary nature that there is no other means or method other than the act.