Court rules law pardoning property crimes against family unconstitutional

The Constitutional Court on Thursday struck down the criminal code that automatically pardons property crimes committed against immediate family members, saying it infringes upon victims' rights to seek punishment of those crimes.

Under a clause of the Criminal Act, property crimes committed against immediate family members, including parents, children or spouses, as well as live-in relatives, such as theft or embezzlement, are not subject to criminal punishment.

It was codified and has remained unchanged since the Criminal Act was first enacted in 1953, with the intention of minimizing state intervention in family affairs, considering the traditional value that families hold.

The code has come under growing scrutiny, however, amid increasing cases and severity of economic crimes against family members, as well as the increasing nuclearization of families.

The Constitutional Court on Thursday unanimously ruled the code unconstitutional, immediately suspending its legal application. The National Assembly has until Dec. 31, 2025, to revise the code, or it will automatically lose its effectiveness.

The court determined that the clause in question bars victims of property crimes by family members from requesting judges for proper punishments.

"It clearly deviates from legislative discretion and is deemed significantly unfair," the court said, ruling that the clause infringes upon victims' right to testify about their damages at court.

The court, meanwhile, upheld a separate provision under the Criminal Act that requires formal complaints to be filed first to indict individuals for property crimes committed against distant relatives beyond immediate family members, spouses or other live-in family members.

Yonhap