Notification of Safety Inspection Evaluation Results by Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport... Court Rules "Not an Administrative Sanction"

A specialized facility safety inspection agency, Company A, filed a lawsuit requesting the cancellation of the safety inspection evaluation result disposition by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, but the court did not accept it. The court ruled that the notification of results by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport does not constitute an 'administrative disposition' subject to an appeal lawsuit, deeming the lawsuit itself inappropriate.

Seoul Administrative Court

According to the legal community on the 21st, the Administrative Division 2 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Chief Judge Ko Eunseol) dismissed the plaintiff's claim in the lawsuit filed by Company A against the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport seeking cancellation of the unsatisfactory evaluation result disposition. Dismissal is a procedure that terminates the lawsuit without substantive examination due to failure to meet requirements.

In April 2020, Company A signed a service contract for "Detailed Safety Inspection and Performance Evaluation of 43 Locations including Yeongdong Line." Subsequently, it registered and submitted the detailed safety inspection report containing the implementation results to the relevant system. However, it received an unsatisfactory evaluation from the subcontracted company B, which evaluates the service implementation results.

Accordingly, in September 2022, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport notified Company A of the 'unsatisfactory' evaluation result and requested that corrective measures for the pointed-out issues be completed within the correction period (2 months) and that the results be submitted to the management entity. It also informed that an objection could be filed within 15 days, but Company A did not file any objection. Later, in December 2022, the Minister notified the mayors and governors to impose administrative dispositions such as business suspension and fines on companies evaluated as 'unsatisfactory.'

Company A filed a lawsuit requesting the cancellation of this second notification by the Minister, but the court dismissed it. The court stated, "The second notification is an internal expression of intention informing the facility management entity, the Korea Expressway Corporation, and the administrative disposition imposing entities, the respective mayors and governors, of the measures to be taken according to the first notification, and it does not constitute an act that directly changes the plaintiff's legal rights or obligations," adding, "The second notification cannot be regarded as an administrative disposition subject to an appeal lawsuit."