Open Decision Ledger · Rehabilitation & bankruptcy
Basis for Avoidance of Acts Completing Effect Requirements and Whether a Bankrupt's Flight Abroad Constitutes Suspension of Payment
Translated from the Korean original. Read the Korean
Supreme Court, July 13, 2007, 2005Da72348 (judgment)
Case name: 사해행위취소
Official text on the National Law Information Center
Question
May an act completing the effect requirements for a change of rights be denied under the general provision of Article 64 of the former Bankruptcy Act, and does the flight abroad of a bankrupt in a state of excess of liabilities constitute suspension of payment under Article 66, paragraph (1) of the same Act?
Holding
An act completing effect requirements may be denied only when the strict requirements of Article 66 of the former Bankruptcy Act are satisfied, and such an act is not a subject of denial under Article 64. The flight abroad of a bankrupt in a state of excess of liabilities was regarded as an implicit manifestation of an intention to refuse payment of debts and accordingly as constituting suspension of payment.
Summary of the holding, verbatim
권리변동의 효력요건을 구비하는 행위는 구 파산법 제66조 소정의 엄격한 요건을 충족시키는 경우에만 부인의 대상이 될 뿐이지, 이와 별도로 구 파산법 제64조에 의한 부인의 대상이 될 수는 없다.
Unofficial English translation
An act satisfying the requirements for the effectiveness of a change in rights can become an object of avoidance only where it meets the strict requirements prescribed in Article 66 of the former Bankruptcy Act, and cannot, separately from this, become an object of avoidance under Article 64 of the former Bankruptcy Act.
Disposition
Dismissed Stated in the decision
상고를 기각한다
Unofficial English translation
The appeal is dismissed
Form of the test
Elements stated Stated in the decision
채무자가 변제기에 있는 채무를 자력의 결핍으로 인하여 일반적, 계속적으로 변제할 수 없다는 것을 명시적, 묵시적으로 외부에 표시하는 것을 말한다.
Unofficial English translation
means the debtor's express or implicit manifestation to the outside that, due to a lack of funds, it is generally and continuously unable to pay debts as they become due.
Factors
- 효력요건 또는 대항요건 구비행위도 본래 구 파산법 제64조의 일반 규정에 의한 부인의 대상이 되어야 하지만
- 권리변동의 원인이 되는 행위를 부인할 수 없는 경우
- 채무자가 변제기에 있는 채무를 자력의 결핍으로 인하여 일반적, 계속적으로 변제할 수 없다는 것을 명시적, 묵시적으로 외부에 표시하는 것
- 채무초과 상태에 있는 파산자의 해외도피
Unofficial English translation
• An act satisfying the requirements for effectiveness or the opposability requirement (assertability against third parties) should also, in principle, become an object of avoidance under the general provision of Article 64 of the former Bankruptcy Act; however,
• where the act giving rise to the change in rights cannot be avoided,
• the debtor's express or implicit manifestation to the outside that, due to a lack of funds, it is generally and continuously unable to pay debts as they become due,
• the bankrupt's flight abroad while in a state of excess of liabilities
Relation to precedent
Cannot be determined Not in the decision
Decisions referred to
None listed
Burden of proof
Not addressed Not in the decision
Open question and revisit condition
Apart from flight abroad, what acts may be regarded as suspension of payment on the basis of an implicit manifestation of an intention to refuse payment of debts?
If the Supreme Court adopts a different interpretation of the relationship between Article 391 and Article 394 of the current Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act, this reading will be re-examined.
Cross-family AI independent reading & axis check
7 of 8 axes matched GPT-6 Astra (OpenAI, codex CLI) · 2026-10-16
When compared with an independent reading by another AI model (GPT-6 Astra), which read only the original text without seeing the first reading, 7 of the 8 axes matched, and the readings diverged on the 8th axis (Open question and revisit condition).
Axis 8 (Open question and revisit condition): Primary “Apart from flight abroad, what acts may be regarded as suspension of payment on the basis of an implicit manifestation of an intention to refuse payment of debts?” vs Independent “May suspension of payment be recognized even where a debtor who has fled abroad continues to pay some debts?”
The first reading asks what acts other than flight abroad may be recognized as suspension of payment, while the independent reading asks about the case in which some payments continue after the flight abroad.
권리변동의 효력요건을 구비하는 행위는 구 파산법 제66조 소정의 엄격한 요건을 충족시키는 경우에만 부인의 대상이 될 뿐이지, 이와 별도로 구 파산법 제64조에 의한 부인의 대상이 될 수는 없다.Raw responses and comparison record: Protocol · Blind readings (JSONL) · Axis comparison (JSONL) · SHA-256 (JSON)
Lower-court contrast & scope of application
Lower-court reading vs. Supreme Court holding
Lower-court context: The court below held that the maximum amount mortgage creation agreement constituted an act under Article 64, subparagraph 1 of the former Bankruptcy Act, but rejected the claim for avoidance on the ground that the defendants, as beneficiaries, did not know the fact of prejudice to bankruptcy creditors; it also rejected the claim for avoidance of the registration creating the maximum amount mortgage under Article 64, subparagraph 1; and it held that the bankrupt's flight abroad did not constitute suspension of payment and therefore did not accept denial under Article 66, paragraph (1) either.
Supreme Court standard: The Supreme Court regarded as proper the holdings that the good faith of the defendants should be recognized and that acts completing effect requirements cannot be denied under Article 64. Although the Supreme Court pointed out that the part treating the flight abroad as not constituting suspension of payment involved a misapprehension of legal principles, it held that the conclusion was proper, since there was no Evidence to prove the bad faith of the beneficiaries and the registration completed on December 9, 2000 was an act occurring more than 1 year before the declaration of bankruptcy on November 5, 2003, so that denial was not permitted under Article 76, and it therefore dismissed the final appeal.
Distinguishing conditions
- Cases in which the subject of denial is not an act completing effect requirements, such as registration or recordation, but the underlying act causing the change of rights itself
- Cases in which the debtor's act is limited to a temporary absence or to the refusal of an individual debt and is difficult to regard as an external manifestation of a general and continuous inability to pay arising from a lack of means
- Cases in which the act completing effect requirements took place within 1 year before the declaration of bankruptcy, so that the limitation of Article 76 does not apply, or in which the bad faith of the beneficiary is proved
Record verification notes
Before asserting the same conclusion, one should first check in the Records whether the act completing effect requirements took place after 15 days had elapsed from the underlying act, whether the beneficiary knew of the suspension of payment at that time, and whether the interval from the declaration of bankruptcy exceeds 1 year.
From the official text
Points at issue
[1] 구 파산법 제66조가 권리변동의 효력요건 또는 대항요건 자체를 독자적인 부인의 대상으로 규정하고 있는 취지 및 권리변동의 효력요건을 구비하는 행위가 구 파산법 제64조에 의한 부인의 대상이 되는지 여부(소극) [2] 구 파산법 제66조 제1항에 정한 ‘지급정지’의 의미 [3] 채무초과 상태에 있는 파산자의 해외도피가 구 파산법 제66조 제1항에 정한 지급정지에 해당한다고 본 사례
Unofficial English translation
[1] The purpose of Article 66 of the former Bankruptcy Act in stipulating the requirements for the effectiveness of a change in rights or the opposability requirement (assertability against third parties) itself as independent objects of avoidance, and whether an act satisfying the requirements for the effectiveness of a change in rights becomes an object of avoidance under Article 64 of the former Bankruptcy Act (negative) [2] The meaning of 'suspension of payments' as provided in Article 66(1) of the former Bankruptcy Act [3] A case holding that the bankrupt's flight abroad while in a state of excess of liabilities constitutes the suspension of payments as provided in Article 66(1) of the former Bankruptcy Act
Summary of the holding
[1] 구 파산법(2005. 3. 31. 법률 제7428호 채무자 회생 및 파산에 관한 법률 부칙 제2조로 폐지) 제66조가 권리변동의 효력요건 또는 대항요건 자체를 독자적인 부인의 대상으로 규정하고 있는 취지는 효력요건 또는 대항요건 구비행위도 본래 구 파산법 제64조의 일반 규정에 의한 부인의 대상이 되어야 하지만, 권리변동의 원인이 되는 행위를 부인할 수 없는 경우에는 가능한 한 효력요건 또는 대항요건을 구비시켜 당사자가 의도한 목적을 달성시키면서 구 파산법 제66조 소정의 엄격한 요건을 충족시키는 경우에만 특별히 이를 부인할 수 있도록 한 것이라고 해석되므로, 권리변동의 효력요건을 구비하는 행위는 구 파산법 제66조 소정의 엄격한 요건을 충족시키는 경우에만 부인의 대상이 될 뿐이지, 이와 별도로 구 파산법 제64조에 의한 부인의 대상이 될 수는 없다. [2] 구 파산법(2005. 3. 31. 법률 제7428호 채무자 회생 및 파산에 관한 법률 부칙 제2조로 폐지) 제66조 제1항에 정한 ‘지급정지’란 채무자가 변제기에 있는 채무를 자력의 결핍으로 인하여 일반적, 계속적으로 변제할 수 없다는 것을 명시적, 묵시적으로 외부에 표시하는 것을 말한다. [3] 파산자가 자신이 대주주 겸 회장으로 있는 회사로부터 거액의 불법 출자자대출을 받는 등으로 인하여 채무초과에 빠진 상태에서 위 회사의 정상적 영업마저 불가능한 상황에 직면하자 해외로 도피한 사안에서, 그러한 해외도피는 파산자가 일반적·계속적으로 그 채무변제를 거절하겠다는 의사를 묵시적으로 표시한 행위로서 구 파산법(2005. 3. 31. 법률 제7428호 채무자 회생 및 파산에 관한 법률 부칙 제2조로 폐지) 제66조 제1항에 정한 지급정지에 해당한다고 본 사례.
Order
상고를 기각한다 상고비용은 원고가 부담한다.
Unofficial English translation
The appeal is dismissed. The plaintiff shall bear the costs of appeal.
Provisions referred to
[1] 구 파산법(2005. 3. 31. 법률 제7428호 채무자 회생 및 파산에 관한 법률 부칙 제2조로 폐지) 제64조(현행 채무자 회생 및 파산에 관한 법률 제391조 참조), 제66조(현행 채무자 회생 및 파산에 관한 법률 제394조 참조) [2] 구 파산법(2005. 3. 31. 법률 제7428호 채무자 회생 및 파산에 관한 법률 부칙 제2조로 폐지) 제66조 제1항(현행 채무자 회생 및 파산에 관한 법률 제394조 제1항 참조) [3] 구 파산법(2005. 3. 31. 법률 제7428호 채무자 회생 및 파산에 관한 법률 부칙 제2조로 폐지) 제66조 제1항(현행 채무자 회생 및 파산에 관한 법률 제394조 제1항 참조)
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