Anti-corruption law taken to Constitutional Court

Lawyers’ group files petition with Constitutional Court

By Lee Kyung-min

The Korean Bar Association (KBA) filed a petition with the Constitutional Court, Thursday, to review the constitutionality of a new anti-corruption law that has prompted a huge uproar from the press and within the retail business community.

The National Assembly approved the anti-corruption bill Tuesday, and the law is scheduled to take effect in September next year after an 18-month grace period.

However, the lawyers’ group said it decided to take the law to the Constitutional Court because, if implemented, the legislation could be misused to further suppress the media and may hit restaurants, bars, country clubs and other retail businesses.

The KBA said, unlike the law’s original purpose of rooting out corruption in the public sector, some lawmakers included journalists and private school teachers at closed-door meetings. Further, it pointed out that politicians were excluded from the scope of the law.

“If effective, the law has the possibility of compromising press freedom to a greater degree, ultimately posing risk to an open and democratic society,” the KBA said in a statement. “The basic function of the media would be severely undermined.”

The KBA also cautioned that the law could be missed by law enforcement authorities

“First, police and the prosecution who have the right to investigate corruption cases would be more powerful. They can bring charges based on vaguely-defined concepts of favors or influence under the law,” said the KBA. “The same goes for judges who determine whether a person is guilty or not.”

A judge said that almost no journalist would be free from punishment. “The law can be misused by those in power to suppress their opponents,” he said on condition of anonymity.

Under the law, civil servants, teachers and board members of private schools and journalists are subject to up to three years in prison or a fine five times the value of any money or gifts they accept, if they are worth more than 1 million won regardless of whether it was in return for favors or related to their work.

Of the 247 lawmakers present, 226 voted for the bill, four against, while the remaining 17 abstained.

The passage of the law bought on speculation that it was politically driven.

Some experts said rival parties supposedly sought to win public support ahead of the parliamentary elections in April 2016 by approving the bill.