The Supreme Court Sentencing Commission announced on the 25th that it has newly established and strengthened sentencing guidelines for defendants involved in animal abuse, sex crimes, and fraud offenses. Sentencing guidelines serve as a kind of reference for frontline judges when making rulings.
The Supreme Court Sentencing Commission held its 137th meeting on the 24th and finalized the sentencing guidelines for fraud, sex crimes, violations of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, and the Animal Protection Act. The new sentencing guidelines will apply to cases prosecuted from July 1 onward.
The sentencing guidelines for violations of the Animal Protection Act have been newly established this time. For killing an animal, the recommended basic sentence is imprisonment for 4 months to 1 year or a fine of 3 million to 12 million won. If there are many aggravating factors due to the severity of the crime, the sentence can be increased to imprisonment for 8 months to 2 years or a fine of 5 million to 20 million won. For causing pain or injury to an animal, the recommended basic sentence is imprisonment for 2 months to 10 months or a fine of 1 million to 10 million won. The Sentencing Commission stated, "The recommended sentencing range was set by comprehensively considering public interest and awareness regarding animal welfare and the right to life of animals."
Detailed sentencing guidelines for sex crimes have also been newly established. For molesting others in crowded public places such as subways, the recommended basic sentence is imprisonment for 6 months to 1 year. If molestation is committed against a person under protection or supervision by using coercion or power, imprisonment for 6 months to 1 year is recommended, and for rape, imprisonment for 8 months to 1 year and 6 months is recommended.
The phrase "including deposit" was removed from the mitigating factors in the overall sex crime sentencing guidelines. There have been frequent social outcries over cases where "surprise deposits" were made without the victim's consent, resulting in sentence reductions. The Sentencing Commission explained, "Although deposits are merely a means of victim recovery, the phrase 'including deposit' could be misunderstood as automatically constituting a mitigating factor solely because of the deposit, which was taken into consideration due to criticism."
For fraud crimes, the recommended sentences have generally been increased for cases where the damage amount is 500 million won or more. For fraudsters with damages exceeding 30 billion won, if the crime is severe, the maximum sentence of life imprisonment can be imposed. Additionally, the content regarding the mitigating factor "when the victim sought high returns in a short period" has been removed.
The recommended sentences for violations of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act have also been significantly increased. For offenses committed for business, organizational, or criminal use purposes, special adjustments recommend sentences up to the statutory maximum of 5 years. The Sentencing Commission stated, "We comprehensively considered the special nature of crimes used as means for voice phishing crimes and other factors such as social interest and awareness."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
