Council of Europe - Venice Commission

KOREA - Public Offical Election Act

Download file

Article 261

(Imposition, Collection, etc. of Fines for Negligence)

(1) Any person who demands a political party or a candidate (including a person who intends to become a candidate) to offer him/her money,
goods, other property interest, or a position, public or private, in return for conducting an activity specified in Article 231 (1) 1 shall be punished by a fine for negligence not exceeding 50 million won.

(2) Any person who conducts a public opinion poll or publishes or reports the results of a public opinion poll, in contravention of Article 108 (8) 2,
shall be punished by a fine for negligence not exceeding 30 million won.

(3) Any of the following persons shall be punished by a fine for negligence not exceeding ten million won:

1. A person who does not guarantee voting leave in contravention of Article 6-2 (2);
2. A person who fails to take technical measures in contravention of Article 82-6 (1);
3. A person who fails to make a report to the relevant constituency election commission or conducts a public opinion poll, inconsistent
with the report already made, in contravention of Article 108 (3) or who conducts a public opinion poll without supplementing defects in
contravention of Article 108 (4).

(4) Any person who does not comply with a request for cooperation without a justifiable reason, in contravention of Article 147 (3) (including cases to
which the aforesaid paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 147 (4) or 173 (3)) shall be punished by a fine for negligence not
exceeding five million won.<Newly Inserted by Act No. 12393, Feb. 13, 2014>

(5) Any person who fails to attend an interview or debate meeting, without any justifiable ground, in contravention of the latter part of the main
sentence of Article 82-2 (4), shall be punished by a fine for negligence not exceeding four million won.

(6) Any of the following persons shall be punished by a fine for negligence not exceeding three million won:

1. A person who violates the provisions of Articles 70 (3), 71 (10), 72 (3) (including cases to which the aforesaid provisions shall apply mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 74 (2)), 73 (1) (limited to contents provided by the election commission having jurisdiction over a constituency) or (2), 272-3 (3), or 275;

2. A person who fails to comply with a demand for accompanying under Article 272-2 (4), who is a flagrant offender or a quasi flagrant
offender under Article 211 of the Criminal Procedure Act;

3. A person who fails to delete any information, such as characters, voices, pictures or videos, that does not carry the sign of the real
name certification data, in contravention of Article 82-6 (6);

4. A person who does not comply with a request made by an election commission in contravention of Article 82-4 (4): Provided, That the
foregoing shall not apply to a person who does not comply with requests made two or more times.

(7) Except as otherwise provided for in this Act, any of the following persons shall be punished by a fine for negligence not exceeding two
million won:

1. A person who neglects the obligation of a report or submission as prescribed by this Act with respect to the election;
2. A person who falls under any of the following items:

(a) A person who fails to specify the details of allocation in a report on the establishment of the election campaign office or election campaign liaison office, in contravention of Article 205 (3);
(b) A person who fails to specify the details of allocation in a report on the appointment of the election campaign manager, chief of an
election campaign liaison office, and election campaign worker, in contravention of Article 205 (3);
(c) A person who fails to report in writing the details of allocation at the time he/she submits election campaign bulletins, in contravention of the latter part of Article 207 (3);
(d) Deleted; <by Act No. 9974, Jan. 25, 2010>
(e) A person who fails to specify the details of allocation in the advertisement contract, in contravention of Article 69 (3) and the latter part of Article 82-7 (3);
(f) Deleted; <by Act No. 9974, Jan. 25, 2010>
(g) A person who fails to comply with a request for cooperation without any justifiable ground, in contravention of Article 146-2
(3), 147 (10) (including cases to which the aforesaid provisions shall apply mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 148 (4) or 174
(3));
(h) A person who violates Article 149 (3) or (4);
3. Deleted; <by Act No. 7681, Aug. 4, 2005>
4. A person who damages or spoils the ballot paper model posted under Article 152 (1);
5. A person who commits a vicarious execution, which is minor, under Article 271 (1). In such cases, if a fine for negligence is not imposed,
the complaint shall be filed against him/her to the competent criminal investigation agency, or request to investigate the matter;
6. A person who fails to remove propaganda materials, etc., in contravention of Article 276.

(8) Any of the following persons shall be punished by a fine for negligence not exceeding one million won:

1. A person who has been selected as a witness by an election commission or an overseas election commission under the proviso to
Article 161 (3), Article 162 (3), 181 (3) or 218-20 (4) but refuses or neglects to serve as a witness without a justifiable ground;

2. A person who falls under any of the following items:

(a) A person who installs or posts a sign, tablet, or placard at an election campaign office or election campaign liaison office or aids
and abets another person to install or posts a sign, tablet, or placard at such an office, in contravention of Article 61 (6);
(b) A person who installs or posts a signboard, tablet or placard at a political party's electoral office, or causes another to do so, in
contravention of Article 61-2 (4);
(c) A person who performs, or causes another person to perform, an election campaign without wearing the mark, in contravention of
Article 63 (2);
(d) A person who gives a speech or interview without marking his/her motor vehicle and loudspeaker system, in contravention of Article 79 (6);
(e) A person who operates, or causes another person to operate, a motor vehicle or ship without attaching the marks, in contravention
of Article 91 (4);
(f) A person who has been commissioned as a voting clerk, advance polling clerk, or ballot-counting assistant under Article 147 (9), 148
(3), or 174 (2), but refuses, abandons, or neglects the performance of his/her duties, without a justifiable ground;
2-2. A person who falls under any of the following items:
(a) A person who fails to submit the campaign promise collection of preliminary candidate, in contravention of Article 60-4 (3);
(b) A person who fails to submit the written election promise, in contravention of Article 66 (6);

3. A person who posts the notification posters and marks, or fails to remove them without delay upon the completion of a briefing session of his/her parliamentary activities, in contravention of Article 111 (2);

4. A person who falls under any of the following items:

(a) A person who fails to submit a brochure on platform and policies, in contravention of Article 138 (4);
(b) A person who fails to submit a policy promise collection, in contravention of Article 138-2 (3);
(c) A person who fails to submit a party organ, in contravention of Article 139 (3);
(d) A person who fails to remove, without delay, the signs for public announcement of the rally for formation of a political party, in
contravention of Article 140 (4);
(e) A person who holds a party members' rally at a place which is not one referred to in Article 141 (2), or who fails to remove, without delay, the signs announcing the party members' rally, in contravention of paragraph (4) of the same Article;
(f) Deleted; <by Act No. 7189, Mar. 12, 2004>
(g) A person who installs or posts propaganda materials, etc. at the headquarters of a political party or the office of a supporters' association, in contravention of Article 145;

5. A person who fails to submit the periodicals, etc. in contravention of the provisions of Article 8-3 (4) without any justifiable reasons;

6. A person who fails to comply with a request for attendance under Article 272-2 (4), without justifiable reasons.

(9) Any of the following persons (excluding a person who has been given or provided with money, food, or goods with a value exceeding one million
won) shall be punished by a fine for negligence of not less than ten times but nor more than fifty times of the value of the money, food, or goods given or provided (two million won if the person is an officiant), which shall not exceed 30 million won: Provided, That if a person who falls under subparagraph 1 or 2 has returned the mony, food, or goods given or provided (referring to an amount of money equivalent to the value, if it is impossible to return what was given or provided) to the competent election commission and surrender him/herself to the police, the fine for negligence imposed upon him/her may be reduced or discharged, as prescribed by Regulations of the National Election Commission:

1. A person who receives money, goods, food, a book, sight-seeing, or other transportation means in contravention of Article 116;
2. A person who is specified in Article 230 (1) 6 and receives money, goods, or other benefit from a person specified in Article 230 (1) 5;
3 through 5 Deleted; <by Act No. 11374, Feb. 29, 2012>
6. A person to whom a person specified in Article 113 has provided his/her services as an officiant in contravention of Article 116.

(10) Fines for negligence shall be imposed by the competent election commission (hereafter in this Article, referred to as "imposing authority")
under conditions prescribed by Regulations of the National Election Commission. In such cases, if a party (referring to a party under subparagraph 3 of Article 2 of the Act on the Regulation of Violations of Public Order; hereafter the same shall apply in this Article) subject to the disposition of a fine for negligence under paragraphs (1) through (8) is a political party, a candidate (including a preliminary candidate; hereafter the same shall apply in this Article) or his/her family member, an election campaign manager, the chief of an election campaign liaison office, an election campaign worker, an accountant in charge, an election campaign speechmaker or assistant, the said fine for negligence shall be paid to the State or local government by deducting the amount from the deposit money of a relevant candidate under Article 57, and with regard to other persons and the person subject to the disposition of the fine for negligence under paragraph (9), the offender shall be made to pay it, and if it is not paid within the payment term, the collection thereof shall be entrusted to the chief of the competent tax office, and the said chief shall collect it in accordance with practices for the disposition of delinquent national taxes, and transfer it to the State or local government.

(11) Notwithstanding Article 5 of the Act on the Regulation of Violations of Public Order, the following provisions shall apply to the procedures for
the collection, imposition, etc. of fines for negligence under this Act:

1. A party shall submit his/her opinions within three days from the date on which he/she receives an advance notice from the imposing
authority, notwithstanding the provisons of the former part of Article 16 (1) of the Act on the Regulation of Violations of Public Order;
2. Notwithstanding the provisons of Article 17 (3) of the Act on the Regulation of Violations of Public Order, the provisions of Articles 15 through 20 of the National Tax Collection Act shall not apply mutatis mutandis to fines for negligence that shall be deducted from the deposit money of the relevant candidate under the latter part of paragraph (1) of this Article;
3. Any party who is dissatisfied with the disposition of a fine for negligence under the former part of paragraph (10) of this Article shall file an objection to the imposing authority within 20 days from the date on which he/she receives a notice of such disposition, but filing an objection in such cases shall not affect the effects of the disposition of the fine for negligence, the execution of the disposition, or the continuation of the procedure;
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 24 of the Act on the Regulation of Violations of Public Order, if a party fails to pay a fine for negligence, which has not been deducted from the deposit money of the relevant candidate under the latter part of paragraph (10) of this Article, by the deadline for payment, the imposing authority shall request the head of the competent tax office to collect the delinquent fine for negligence, together with an additional charge equivalent to 5/100 of the delinquent fine for negligence, and the head of the competent tax office shall collect the fine for negligence in accordance with the practices for the disposition of delinquent national taxes and transfer the collected amount to State or the competent local
government;
5. Notwithstanding the main sentence of Article 21 (1) of the Act on the Regulation of Violations of Public Order, upon receipt of an objection
under subparagraph 3 from the party upon whom a fine for negligence has been imposed under paragraph (10) of the Article, the imposing authority shall notify the competent court of the fact without delay.