The burden of proof and degree of proof concerning the causal relationship between the occurrence of a public official and the disease, which are the requirements for the payment of bereaved family's compensation as prescribed by the former Public Officials Pension Act / A person who serves as the basis for determining the proximate causal relationship between the occurrence of a disease and the death of a public official when determining whether a disease occurs in the course

Article 61(1) of the former Public Officials Pension Act (Amended by Act No. 11690, Mar. 23, 2013)

Supreme Court Decision 2005Du15373 Decided September 8, 2006 (Gong2011Du32898 Decided June 11, 2015)

Plaintiff (Law Firm, Kim & Lee LLC, Attorneys Kang Yong-tae et al., Counsel for the plaintiff-appellant)

The Government Employees Pension Service

Seoul High Court Decision 2015Nu39974 decided October 15, 2015

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

The grounds of appeal are examined (to the extent of supplement in case of supplemental appellate briefs not timely filed).

1. After recognizing the facts as indicated in its holding, the lower court determined that: (a) under general medical opinions, it is difficult to see that overwork or stress contributed to the outbreak of acute baloneosis (hereinafter “emergency baloneosis”); (b) it is not clear whether the deceased at the time of his/her death caused baloneosis infection; and (c) it is difficult to readily conclude that balone infection was caused by overwork or stress; and (d) even if the deceased’s death was accompanied by external infection, it is more important to deem that stress is not a direct cause of infection; (b) it is difficult to see that stress is difficult to deem that the deceased’s performance of his/her duties for the pertinent period of time from two weeks to the time of his/her death, to the time of his/her death; and (c) it is difficult to deem that there is no stress or stress caused by stress on the deceased’s death or the degree of performing his/her duties; and (d) it is difficult to deem that the deceased’s death and balone’s symptoms caused the deceased’s death and disease.

2. However, the lower court’s determination is difficult to accept for the following reasons.

A. “A public disease” which is the requirement for the payment of bereaved family’s compensation as prescribed by the former Public Officials Pension Act (amended by Act No. 11690, Mar. 23, 2013) refers to a disease caused by the public duty during the performance of the official duty. As such, there should be causation between the occurrence of the public duty and the disease, and the causal relationship should be proved by the assertion of such causal relationship. However, such causal relationship does not necessarily have to be proved clearly in medical and natural science, and where proximate causal relationship is acknowledged from a normative perspective, proof should be deemed to exist (see Supreme Court Decision 2011Du32898, Jun. 11, 2015, etc.). Furthermore, even if the main cause of the disease is not directly related to the public duty, if the outcome, etc. overlaps with the main cause of the disease and caused the disease, the causal relationship should be deemed to exist, and whether the disease caused by the foregoing should be determined not less than 20,000 ordinarily included in the relevant public official duty, and more than 30.

B. Comprehensively taking account of the reasoning of the lower judgment and the evidence duly admitted by the lower court, the following facts are revealed.

① In around 1994, the Deceased was appointed as a Dong Branch Branch of the Seoul Central District Court. From March 201 to January 10, 2013, the Deceased served as a chief judge of the Seoul Central District Court Panel Division of the Civil Court from March 201 to January 10, 2013.

② In addition to the basic trial duties, the Deceased performed various literary activities related to his duties from July 16, 2012 to the immediately preceding death, the participation of the Ministry of Justice in the revision committee of the Civil Execution Act, and the lectures on the promotion of the competent court.

③ 망인은 2012년 10월경부터 입술이 계속 마르고 부르트면서 혓바늘이 돋는 등의 증세를 호소하였고, 잦은 기침 등 감기증세를 보이면서도 재판업무와 위 직무 관련 저술 활동 등을 계속 수행하였으며, 아래와 같이 급성 백혈병 진단을 받기 2주 전부터는 거의 매일 열이 났다. 또한 망인 소속 재판부는 망인이 사망하기 전 3개월 동안인 2012년 10월부터 2012년 12월까지 소속 법원의 다른 재판부보다 평균 10~15%를 초과하는 사건을 처리하였다.

④ On January 6, 2013, the Deceased complained of severe bridge pains, hospitalized in the hospital, and was diagnosed with p.m. acute leukosis on the same day, and died on January 10, 2013.

⑤ The medical record appraisal shows that the deceased’s direct cause of death is one of the following: (a) the person’s direct cause of death is most closely related to the vulnerability to infection caused by acute typhosis; and (b) the relationship between the typosis is not clearly known; (c) even if the deceased’s death was caused by overwork or stress, it can be deemed that all of the two relevant factors contributed to the degradation; (d) the deceased’s death appears to have started with an annual infection; (e) the deceased died two weeks from the time when the spherical symptoms showed the sphere; (e) the deceased’s death was 4 days from the time when the sphere was hospitalized; (e) the death during the short period is presumed to have been highly affected by 00 per annum infection; and (e) the deceased’s death may be presumed to have been caused by spherosis infection in the event that the sphere’s disease was seriously affected by spherosis infection in addition to spherosis infection.

6. In addition, according to the results of the fact-finding on the president of the Korean Medical Association, the infection has more important factors such as the pathogenicity and the quantity of infected sources than the degradation caused by occupational stress, but it may affect the progress of the immunodeficiency degree caused by stress.

C. In light of the aforementioned legal principles, it is difficult to readily conclude that the cause of the deceased’s direct death of an infectious disease is solely acute typosis, i.e., (i) it is difficult to view that the death of the deceased is the cause of acute typosis in general. While the deceased died due to infection, the deceased died of only four days after hospitalization and diagnosis of acute typosis. This appears to have died within a short time after the outbreak, taking into account the general survival period of the deceased, the health condition before and after the death of the deceased, etc. As such, it is difficult to conclude that the cause of the death of the deceased’s direct death of an infectious disease is solely acute typosis; (ii) medical record provides the possibility of the outbreak of typosis infection by an independent external infection with stress or stress on the cause of infection, which is a private person, and it is difficult to readily conclude that the death of the deceased might have been spread within a relatively short period of time due to stress or stress on the deceased’s direct death of the deceased; and (iii) it cannot be deemed as above.

D. Nevertheless, the lower court denied the causal relationship between the deceased’s death and the performance of official duties solely based on its stated reasoning. In so doing, it erred by misapprehending the legal doctrine on proximate causal relationship between the deceased and the performance of official duties, thereby failing to exhaust all necessary deliberations, thereby adversely affecting

3. 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 Kim Chang-suk (Presiding Justice)