The Democratic Party of Korea will announce the first set of measures to rationalize economic criminal penalties, which include abolishing the breach of trust offense under the Commercial Act and codifying the business judgment rule, within this month. Of the three rounds of measures to be unveiled, the party plans to handle the first set during this regular session of the National Assembly.
The Democratic Party held the second meeting of the task force (TF) on rationalizing civil liability for economic crimes at the National Assembly on the 18th. Director General Kwon Chil-seung, along with Commissioners Choi Ki-sang, Kim Nam-geun, Kim Ki-pyo, Heo Young, and Oh Ki-hyung, attended as TF members. Kwon said, "The TF was launched on the 2nd, and over the past two weeks we have discussed rationalizing economic criminal penalties and civil liability," adding, "We reviewed improvements in three directions: abolishing the breach of trust offense, codifying the business judgment rule, and preparing alternative legislation."
The Ministry of Justice is analyzing more than 3,300 types of breach of trust rulings over the past five years. It is also reviewing whether to abolish similar breach of trust provisions stipulated in laws other than the Criminal Act. Kwon said, "Amending the breach of trust offense is necessary, but we are also listening to on-the-ground views that it has served to prevent deviations by members of corporations," adding, "After party-government consultations, we will announce the first set of tasks within this month."
The first set of tasks to be announced this month is also expected to include plans to rationalize criminal penalties affecting people's livelihoods, along with abolishing the breach of trust offense under the Commercial Act. The TF cited as representative tasks the rationalization of penalties such as imposing criminal punishment for failing to file change notifications used for administrative matters like changing the business name in lodging or beauty services or verifying the location of business sites, and imposing criminal punishment when the change certification of overall safety certification for indoor mobile robots is delayed after replacing a small component.
Kwon said, "In cases of civil liability arising in the process of easing economic criminal penalties, we will look for ways to further strengthen it," explaining, "We will seek ways to strengthen civil liability in areas such as class actions and punitive damages."
The TF plans to announce the first-stage measures within this month. The goal for the first-stage measures is to introduce the bill this month and have it handled within this regular session of the National Assembly.