Construction Attorney's Assistance | Construction Attorney, Reduced Sentence on Appeal in a Building Act Violation Case

The client who came to the construction attorney requested a consultation with a construction-case attorney, seeking to obtain a reduced sentence on appeal with respect to the Building Act violation charge with an attorney's assistance.

Building Act Article 11 (Building Permit)

① A person who intends to build or carry out major repairs to a building shall obtain a permit from the Special Self-Governing City Mayor, the Special Self-Governing Province Governor, or the head of a Si, Gun, or Gu.

However, a person who intends to build a building of a use and scale prescribed by Presidential Decree, such as a building of 21 or more stories, in a Special Metropolitan City or a Metropolitan City shall obtain a permit from the Special Metropolitan City Mayor or the Metropolitan City Mayor.

Building Act Article 108 (Penalty Provisions)

① A person who falls under any of the following shall be punished by imprisonment for up to 3 years or a fine not exceeding 500 million won.

1. A building owner or contractor who, in an urban area, builds, carries out major repairs to, or changes the use of a building in violation of Article 11①, Article 19(1) and (2), Article 47, Article 55, Article 56, Article 58, Article 60, Article 61, or Article 77-10

Article 80 (Charges for Compelling Compliance)

(1) With respect to a building owner or other person who, after receiving a corrective order under Article 79(1), fails to comply with the corrective order within the period for compliance, the permitting authority shall, after setting a reasonable additional time limit necessary for compliance with the corrective order, impose the following charges for compelling compliance if the corrective order is not complied with by that time limit. However, with respect to a residential building whose total floor area (in the case of an apartment house, based on the area of each household) is 60 square meters or less, and a residential building under Subparagraph 2 that is prescribed by Presidential Decree, the amount prescribed by the ordinance of the relevant local government within the range of one-half of the amount falling under any of the following subparagraphs shall be imposed.

The construction attorney established a careful strategy to overturn the first-instance judgment that had imposed an immediate custodial sentence and to obtain a reduced sentence on appeal.

The attorney earnestly sought leniency for the client, making the following arguments.

The court, accepting the arguments of the construction attorney, imposed a ‘suspended sentence’ on appeal.