Three Shouts in Apartment Not Considered "Disturbance of the Neighborhood"

Court: "Difficult to Conclude That Raising One's Voice Three Times Constitutes Disturbance of Neighborhood Peace"

The appellate court has ruled that shouting three times late at night in the hallway and in front of the elevator near a neighbor's apartment does not constitute "disturbance of the neighborhood" as defined under the Misdemeanor Punishment Act, and therefore found the defendant not guilty. The court determined that there was not enough "significant disturbance" to disrupt the peace of the neighbors, nor was there sufficient clear evidence. On June 10, the Criminal Division 1-3 of the Seoul Northern District Court (Presiding Judge Yoon Woongi) overturned the original verdict, which had fined defendant A 100,000 won for violating the Misdemeanor Punishment Act, and acquitted the defendant, stating, "This case falls under lack of proof of crime" (2024No1274).

Photo to aid understanding of the article. Pixabay.

[Facts]

On October 31, 2023, at around 2:45 a.m., A was brought to trial on charges of violating the Misdemeanor Punishment Act for shouting three times in the hallway and in front of the elevator of an apartment in Nowon-gu, Seoul, saying, "She is living with a man and her conduct is immoral." Article 3, Paragraph 1, Item 21 of the Misdemeanor Punishment Act stipulates that "anyone who makes excessive noise with musical instruments, radios, televisions, record players, bells, loudspeakers, electric motors, etc., or who shouts, talks loudly, or sings loudly to disturb the neighbors, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding 100,000 won, detention, or a minor fine."

At around 2:11 a.m. on the day of the incident, before A shouted, the victim, B, called the police, claiming that A had been making noise, such as the sound of water in the bathroom, throughout the night. When the police arrived at the scene and tried to check A's bathroom, A shouted loudly and strongly refused, so the police left without checking.

Subsequently, B called the police again, stating that "the noise from the upstairs neighbor continued." B told the responding officers, "At around 2:45 a.m., A shouted insults and slander near my home, saying, 'B is conspiring with the police to harass me (A). She is living with a man unrelated to the incident and her conduct is immoral,' raising her voice three times at five-minute intervals."

[Court Ruling]

The court of first instance found A guilty and imposed a fine of 100,000 won.

The appellate court reached a different conclusion. The appellate panel first stated, "Considering the purpose of Article 2 (Prohibition of Abuse) of the Misdemeanor Punishment Act and the need to balance with other types of disturbances defined in Article 3, Paragraph 1, Item 21 of the same Act, 'disturbing the neighbors by talking loudly' refers not simply to uttering a few loud words, but to causing a significant disturbance that interferes with the peaceful daily life of the neighbors. Whether a case falls under this category must be strictly determined for each case by comprehensively considering all circumstances and weighing the competing legal interests."

The court continued, "It is acknowledged that A, after being asked by police officers responding to a noise complaint from the downstairs neighbor to allow them to check the bathroom (the suspected noise source), refused and sent the officers away, and then, in a somewhat agitated state, expressed dissatisfaction toward the victim. However, given that the victim was already highly sensitive to A's actions due to the ongoing noise dispute, it is likely that the victim was more sensitive to A's words than an average person would be."

The appellate court noted that ▲ according to the victim's statement, A made the remarks close enough to the victim's home that, even if not shouted, the content could likely be heard by the victim, and ▲ although the victim stated to investigators that A often made noise such as shouting from the upstairs apartment and that she recorded these incidents as evidence, no such recordings were submitted as evidence in this case.

The court concluded, "Given that there were no complaints from other neighbors about A, even if A raised her voice three times at five-minute intervals after the initial police visit so that the reporting victim could hear, it is difficult to conclude that this amounts to a disturbance of the neighborhood comparable to making excessive noise with musical instruments or record players, or singing loudly, to the extent of disrupting the peaceful daily life of the neighbors."

Hong Yoonji, The Law Times Reporter

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.