Acquittal in a Public Health Control Act case after the court found justifiable grounds for a mistake of law

The clients were indicted for violating the Public Health Control Act on the ground that they had operated a facility without filing the required business report.

Attorney Jaehoon Lee defended the clients in the case contesting their criminal liability.

The central issue was whether the clients had justifiable grounds for not knowing that operating the facility required filing a report.

In particular, the question was whether, in light of the guidance from the competent authority and the specific circumstances at the time, the clients could have been expected to recognize that they were violating the law.

We reviewed how the clients had asked the competent authority about their reporting obligation before operating the facility and what guidance the responsible official had given.

On that basis, we actively argued that the clients had justifiable grounds for not recognizing their reporting obligation and that, under Article 16 of the Criminal Act, they could not be held criminally liable.

The court found that the clients had justifiable grounds for not recognizing their reporting obligation because they had relied on guidance from the competent authority, and acquitted all of them under Article 16 of the Criminal Act.