CONTENTS
- 1. Request to a Busan Attorney for Defense Against a Charge of Violating the Price Stabilization Act
- - What Is the Price Stabilization Act, as Explained by a Busan Attorney?
- - Laws Relevant to This Client's Case, as Explained by a Busan Attorney
- 2. Busan Attorney: “Committed the Offense Together Under the Business Owner's Coercion”
- - Busan Attorney: The Defendant Was Entirely Unaware of the Reporting Requirements Related to Mask Distribution
- - Busan Attorney: Acknowledged That the Defendant Facilitated the Mask Selling
- 3. Result of the Busan Attorney's Assistance: The Defendant Received a Fine
1. Request to a Busan Attorney for Defense Against a Charge of Violating the Price Stabilization Act
The client who requested a Busan attorney to provide a defense against a charge of violating the Price Stabilization Act had been working as an employee at a mask manufacturing and distribution company.
According to the client, on the representative's instructions, the client sold tens of thousands of medical masks to a company that was hoarding them, even though the client was aware that the sale price, sale quantity, and points of sale had not been reported to, or approved by, the Commissioner of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
Such conduct occurred dozens of times, and the sales profit likewise amounted to several billion won. The client came to be tried on a charge of violating the Price Stabilization Act and requested assistance from a Busan attorney at Daeryun.
What Is the Price Stabilization Act, as Explained by a Busan Attorney?
Let us examine the Price Stabilization Act together with a Busan attorney. First, the Price Stabilization Act is a law enacted to protect the interests of consumers by stabilizing prices and to contribute to the stability and development of the lives of the people and the national economy, and it is a law that prohibits hoarding.
At the time the client's incident occurred, the spread of COVID-19 led to a shortage of masks, which prompted the government to implement extraordinary measures.
With the exception of mask exports, a reporting system for the production and sale of medical masks was implemented.
The government warned of strong punishment for unlawful acts such as violating the emergency supply and demand adjustment measures on mask hoarding, manipulating trading volumes, and intentionally omitting reports.
Laws Relevant to This Client's Case, as Explained by a Busan Attorney
The Busan attorney anticipated that, in this client's case, Article 32 of the Criminal Act could apply in addition to the violation of the Act on Price Stabilization.
Act on Price Stabilization
Article 6 (Emergency Supply and Demand Adjustment Measures) ① Where, due to reasons prescribed by Presidential Decree such as internal or external troubles, natural disasters, or an urgent fiscal or economic crisis, prices rise sharply and the supply of goods becomes insufficient, threatening to harm the stability of the lives of the people and to significantly impede the smooth operation of the national economy, the Government may, with respect to a business operator of the relevant goods or a person whose business is the import, export, transport, or storage thereof, and as prescribed by Presidential Decree, set a period not exceeding five months and take any of the measures falling under the following subparagraphs (hereinafter referred to as “emergency supply and demand adjustment measures”).
1. Instructions concerning the establishment, implementation, and modification of production plans
2. Instructions concerning supply and release from storage
3. Instructions concerning the adjustment of imports and exports
4. Instructions concerning transport, storage, or transfer
5. Instructions concerning the reorganization of distribution channels, the simplification of distribution stages, and the improvement of distribution facilities
② After taking emergency supply and demand adjustment measures under paragraph (1), where the Government finds that the grounds for taking such measures have ceased to exist, it shall lift them without delay.
③ Where the Government intends to take emergency supply and demand adjustment measures under paragraph (1), it shall undergo deliberation by the State Council and obtain the approval of the President. The same shall apply to the lifting of measures under paragraph (2).
Article 25 (Penalty Provisions) ① A person who violates the emergency supply and demand adjustment measures under Article 6 (1) shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than three years or a fine of not more than 100 million won.
② The imprisonment and the fine under paragraph (1) may be imposed concurrently.
Criminal Act
Article 32 (Accessory) ①A person who aids and abets the crime of another shall be punished as an accessory.
②The punishment of an accessory shall be mitigated below that of the principal offender.
Article 55 (Statutory Mitigation) ①Statutory mitigation shall be as follows.
1. When the death penalty is to be mitigated, it shall be reduced to imprisonment for life or imprisonment, with or without labor, for not less than 20 years and not more than 50 years.
2. When imprisonment for life with labor or imprisonment for life without labor is to be mitigated, it shall be reduced to imprisonment, with or without labor, for not less than 10 years and not more than 50 years.
3. When imprisonment with labor or imprisonment without labor for a definite term is to be mitigated, it shall be reduced to one half of the term thereof.
4. When disqualification is to be mitigated, it shall be reduced to suspension of qualifications for not less than seven years.
5. When suspension of qualifications is to be mitigated, it shall be reduced to one half of the term thereof.
6. When a fine is to be mitigated, it shall be reduced to one half of the maximum amount thereof.
7. When detention is to be mitigated, it shall be reduced to one half of the maximum term thereof.
8. When a minor fine is to be mitigated, it shall be reduced to one half of the maximum amount thereof.
②Where there are several grounds for statutory mitigation, mitigation may be applied repeatedly.
2. Busan Attorney: “Committed the Offense Together Under the Business Owner's Coercion”
Through detailed consultations with the client, Daeryun Law Firm formed a Busan attorney team composed of multiple specialists with substantial experience in Price Stabilization Act violation cases.
Daeryun's Busan attorney team argued strongly that the defendant, unable to withstand the business owner's coercion, came to take part in the selling.
The team further argued that, because the defendant was an accessory rather than a principal offender, the most lenient disposition possible should be imposed.
Busan Attorney: The Defendant Was Entirely Unaware of the Reporting Requirements Related to Mask Distribution
The Busan attorney stated that the defendant had been entirely unaware of whether reporting of sales related to mask distribution was required.
The Busan attorney further emphasized that the defendant deeply regretted having broken the law and sold masks during the COVID-19 period of mask hoarding, when public anxiety was high.
Busan Attorney: Acknowledged That the Defendant Facilitated the Mask Selling
The Busan attorney stated that the defendant acknowledged having made it easier for another defendant to sell masks.
The attorney then requested that the court take into account that the defendant, who was an employee, had followed the instructions of a superior.
3. Result of the Busan Attorney's Assistance: The Defendant Received a Fine
The court accepted the arguments of the Busan attorney at Daeryun Law Firm and imposed a fine on the defendant.
The client, who had requested that the Busan attorney seek the lowest possible sentence, received a fine.
This may be said to be the result of the Busan attorney's having established, through objective evidence, that the client was an accessory rather than a principal offender.
Daeryun Law Firm (LLC) has many field-specific designated attorneys. A designated attorney is an attorney who has professionally handled cases in a specific field such as criminal, civil, real estate, or inheritance matters.
Because an attorney must meet the demanding requirements of the Korean Bar Association, this designation carries significant meaning.
Requirements for a Designated Attorney
▲30 or more cases in the relevant field over the six-month period measured by the first and second halves of the year
▲60 or more cases on the merits and 120 or more application cases retained
▲At least 2.5 times the average number of cases retained by attorneys in the relevant local bar association
If you require more specialized assistance, you may consider seeking assistance from Daeryun.
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