Acquittal Secured on Appeal in Soil Environment Conservation Act Violation Case
2020.03.10.
Yulchon successfully secured an acquittal in the appellate court against an alleged violation of the Soil Environment Conservation Act for “A”, who had purchased contaminated land in good faith.
“A” was prosecuted for failing to comply with a remediation order as a landowner under the Soil Environment Conservation Act and was convicted in the first instance court. In the appellate court, Yulchon argued that under the amended Soil Environment Conservation Act, a landowner can only be ordered to carry out soil remediation if it is proven that a higher-priority remediation obligor is unable to carry out the remediation. Yulchon argued that, in this case, the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the higher-priority remediation obligor was unable to remediate the soil. Accepting Yulchon’s argument, the court ruled that it cannot conclude that the remediation order could be directly imposed on the defendant and rendered a not-guilty verdict.
This case is significant because it was the first to establish interpretation and application criteria for the priority regulations concerning a remediation order introduced through the amendment of the Soil Environment Conservation Act.
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