In a case where accounting personnel who are not public officials prescribed in Article 2 of the former Act on Liability of Accounting Personnel, Etc. are liable for compensation pursuant to Article 4(1) of the same Act, whether tort liability under the Civil Act against an organization to which they belong is excluded (negative)

In cases where accounting personnel, other than public officials, under Article 2 of the former Act on Liability of Accounting Personnel, etc. (amended by Act No. 6461 of Apr. 7, 2001), are liable to compensate for damage to their organization's property by violating the provisions of Acts and subordinate statutes, other relevant regulations and budget intentionally or by gross negligence, and are liable to compensate pursuant to Article 4 (1) of the same Act, tort liability under the Civil Act against the organization to which they belong is not excluded.

Articles 2 and 4(1) of the former Act on Liability of Accounting Personnel, Etc. (amended by Act No. 6461 of Apr. 7, 2001); Article 750 of the Civil Act

Supreme Court Decision 2001Da56386 Delivered on September 24, 2002 (overruled)

Daejeon Metropolitan City Sports Association (Attorney Kim Young-ho, Counsel for the defendant-appellant)

Defendant 1 and two others (Attorney Jeong-hun et al., Counsel for the defendant-appellee)

Daejeon High Court Decision 2001Na7733 delivered on November 21, 2002

The judgment below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Daejeon High Court.

The grounds of appeal are examined.

1. In a case where accounting personnel who are not public officials under Article 2 of the former Act on Liability of Accounting Personnel, Etc. (amended by Act No. 6461 of Apr. 7, 2001; hereinafter “Accounting Personnel Liability Act”) are liable to compensate under Article 4(1) of the Act on Liability of Accounting Personnel, Etc. for damages to their property by intentionally or by gross negligence in violation of Acts and subordinate statutes, and other relevant regulations and budget, and are liable to compensate for damages to their property, the tort liability under the Civil Act against the organization to which they belong is not excluded.

Unlike the previous opinion, Supreme Court Decision 2001Da56386 Decided September 24, 2002, which held that when accounting personnel who are not public officials inflict damages on an organization to which they belong due to a net act in the course of performing their duties, the cases specially prescribed by the Accounting Personnel Liability Act shall be separate and shall not be held liable for damages due to a tort under the Civil Act shall be modified to the extent inconsistent with the opinion of this decision.

2. According to the reasoning of the judgment below, the court below acknowledged the following facts based on the adopted evidence. The plaintiff is a branch of the Korea Sports Council established pursuant to Article 23 (4) of the National Sports Promotion Act and Article 52 of the Articles of the Korea Sports Council, and is subject to audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection pursuant to Article 23 (3) and 10 of the Board of Audit and Inspection Act. Thus, the defendants' conduct of the plaintiff's accounting-related affairs is all the duties of accounting personnel under the Act on the Liability of Accounting Personnel. The defendants' act alleged as the cause of the claim in this case constitutes the case where the accounting personnel under the Act on the Liability of Accounting Personnel actually neglected the duty of supervision over subordinate employees' work, and thus, the plaintiff's damage was caused by the negligence of supervision of subordinate employees, and thus, the plaintiff cannot claim compensation for damages due to a tort based on civil litigation without compensation decision by the Board of Audit and Inspection.

In light of the above legal principles, the court below rejected the plaintiff's lawsuit of this case on the ground that the plaintiff cannot be held liable for damages caused by negligence on duty against the defendants, who are not public officials, on the ground that they were not subject to the compensation decision by the Board of Audit and Inspection, the court below erred by misapprehending the legal principles on Article 4 of the Accounting Personnel Liability Act and the requirements of lawsuit, which affected the conclusion of the judgment.

3. Therefore, without examining the remaining grounds of appeal, we reverse the judgment of the court below and remand the case to the court below. It is so decided as per Disposition by the assent of all participating Justices on the bench.

Chief Justice Lee Yong-chul (Presiding Justice)