By applying the special pricing law that did not apply to Yonggu, the constitution was deemed “constitutional” even last month.

Application of the special law on assault on drivers at stops

Unanimous “Constitutional Constitution”

Police end simple assault in case of Vice Minister Lee

靑 “No Records Left” Verification Complaint Appeals

Despite the fact that Vice Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu assaulted a taxi driver while he was drunk before assuming the position of lawyer, it was confirmed that the police did not apply the Aggravated Punishment Law for Specific Offenses (Special Privilege Law) and put end unclaimed internal affairs. Just a month ago, when the Constitutional Court made a constitutional decision to enforce the special pricing law, voices from civil society calling for his resignation are erupting as the acting deputy justice minister becomes embroiled in the controversy. Cheong Wa Dae appealed a Deputy Minister’s Personnel Verification complaint, saying, “It is an incident that has not been recorded in public even by the police.

According to the police, on the 20th, Vice Minister Lee resigned as head of the Department of Justice in the Ministry of Justice and was working as a lawyer early last month, while drunk in front of an apartment in Seocho-gu, Seoul, and assaulted a taxi driver in the car. When he reached his destination, the taxi driver tried to wake up this deputy minister, who had been asleep, and held himself back. The taxi driver reported 112, and the police who were dispatched confirmed Lee’s identity, decided to investigate further, and sent him back. Subsequently, the police applied a simple assault charge and closed the internal investigation because the suspect did not want to be punished.

The problem is that at that time, Vice Minister Lee’s actions could be subject to a special law offense. Article 5 of the Special Law stipulates that “the person who assaults or threatens the driver of a vehicle in circulation shall be punished with imprisonment of up to 5 years or with a fine of up to 20 million won.” For violations of the Special Law, the police can apply the charges even if the victim does not want to be punished.

However, the police did not enforce the special pricing law based on existing precedents. The existing precedent is a decision taken by the Constitutional Court in November 2017. At the time, the constitution decided that “in the case of parking and stopping without intention to continue driving in a place where there is no fear of impairing road safety, it is excluded from the meaning of ‘in operation’ by the interpretation of the judge “. At that time, the taxis cannot be considered “in operation”.

However, the constitutional decision to which the police referred was a precedent before the Special Law was revised. The Special Offers Act revised in 2015 contains the category of “in operation” as “cases where the driver temporarily stops to board or disembark passengers while operating a vehicle used for the passenger car transportation business.” . An attorney for one of the top 10 law firms noted that “the police did not make a claim and closed internal affairs, which is not consistent with the purpose of the revision of the Special Prices Law”, noting that “the Insufficient handling of the case by the police has generated controversy. “

In a case similar to this loan, there are cases in which the constitution considered the application of the special prices law constitutional. On November 26, the Constitutional Court made a constitutional decision with the consensus opinion of all the judges in a ruling against Mr. A’s unconstitutional petition against the Special Act. In February last year, Mr. A was charged with assaulting a taxi driver while he was stopping due to a dispute with a taxi driver, and was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison and 3 years of probation. At that time, Mr. A claimed that the car was detained and not subject to the Special Law, but the constitution did not accept it. The constitutional logic of the Constitutional Constitutional Law for Mr. A can be applied to this loan case. The police thought it was not ‘in operation’, but this is because the taxi with this deputy minister does not end after the deputy minister.

The Conservative Citizen Organization for the Right to the Rule of Law (Legal Refinement) accused Vice Minister Lee Yong-gu of violating Article 10 of the Special Law the day before and then requested the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the case of the internal investigation of this deputy minister. Former Tong Yang University professor Jin Joong-kwon also said through his Facebook account: “The president should fire the violent vice minister immediately. And the prosecution must re-investigate this case and severely punish the perpetrator ”. / Reporter Kyungwoon Lee and Kimoon Shim [email protected]

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