Call to adjust school zone sentencing guidelines

'Guidelines should reflect degree of responsibility in each case'

A school zone in Seoul. [Yonhap]
A school zone in Seoul. [Yonhap]

By Jung Joo-won, The Herald Business

A sitting judge has called for revising the sentencing guidelines under "Minshik's Law," which mandates harsher penalties for traffic accidents in school zones, saying the current standards are set too high.

Jang Ji-woong, a judge at the Ansan Branch of Suwon District Court, said Sunday that the existing guidelines risk imposing excessive punishment even for minor acts of negligence.

Speaking at the 16th symposium of the Sentencing Research Society, held at the Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, Jang said traffic accidents involving children "are purely negligence-based offenses that can include even minor breaches of the duty of care." He added that "the lower end of the current sentencing range is set somewhat high, and it needs to be reasonably adjusted so that it can more faithfully reflect the degree of responsibility in each individual case."

Minshik's Law was enacted following the death of Kim Min-shik, a 7-year-old boy killed in a traffic accident in a school zone in Asan in 2019. Under the law, drivers who violate safe-driving obligations in a school zone and cause a child's death face up to life imprisonment, while those who cause injury face one to 15 years in prison or a fine of 5 million to 30 million won ($19,400).

Jang noted that under the current sentencing guidelines, the lower end of the mitigated range for injury offenses involving children in traffic accidents is set at six months in prison or a fine of 3 million won, while the lower end for fatal offenses is set at one year and six months. He said these thresholds are high even compared with the lower bounds for other offense categories, such as assault causing death or general bodily harm.

"Traffic accidents involving children can be established on the basis of simple carelessness alone, even without serious violations such as drunk driving, unlicensed driving or hit-and-run," Jang said. "Yet the current sentencing range is set at a level comparable to that for dangerous driving causing death or injury, which means cases where the degree of culpability is not great could still be punished severely."

Attorney Lee Eun-mi, who participated as a discussant, also said that "the degree of negligence and the circumstances of accidents involving children vary widely," adding that "there is a continuing need to review the appropriateness of the current sentencing range so that sentences proportionate to the degree of responsibility in each individual case can be handed down."


jookapooka@heraldcorp.com