Both Appeals Dismissed
10 Million Won in Damages Upheld
Seoul Eastern District Prosecutor Lim Eunjeong has partially won her appeal in a damages lawsuit against the state, in which she claimed that she was unlawfully disciplined after being included on the so-called "prosecutors blacklist" during her tenure as a senior prosecutor.
On July 9, the Seoul High Court Civil Division 1-3 (Presiding Judges Choi Seongbo, Lee Junyoung, and Lee Yanghee) upheld the lower court's decision, ruling partially in favor of Lim in her appeal against the state for damages.
According to the "Guidelines for Selecting and Managing Prosecutors Subject to Intensive Management," established by the Ministry of Justice in 2012, the Director of the Prosecutors' Office was required to select prosecutors for intensive management each year and report them to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. Based on this, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office conducted inspections and reflected the results in prosecutor qualification reviews and personnel decisions. These guidelines were abolished in February 2019.
In April 2019, Lim filed a 200 million won damages lawsuit against the government, claiming she suffered personnel disadvantages after being included on this list.
In December 2022, the first-instance court ruled partially in Lim's favor, stating, "The guidelines in question are unconstitutional as they require the selection of individuals with a high likelihood of misconduct and allow the results of intensive inspections to be reflected in qualification reviews and personnel decisions," and ordered the government to pay 10 million won in damages.
However, the court at the time did not recognize Lim's claims that the disciplinary and personnel actions were unlawful or that she had suffered workplace harassment.
The Ministry of Justice appealed in January of the following year, stating, "While the purpose of the system is legitimate, only partial damages were recognized due to reasons such as the lack of clarity in the criteria for selecting subject prosecutors."
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