Open Decision Ledger · Constitutional, administrative & state liability
Auction buyer's succession to waste duties for waste left off-site
Supreme Court, Jan. 15, 2026, 2023Du62830 (judgment)
Case name: 조치명령
Official text on the National Law Information Center
Question
Where Article 17(9) of the Waste Management Act makes a person who acquires a waste generator's site through auction succeed to that generator's public-law obligations, does 'that industrial waste' reach industrial waste already deposited, at the time of acquisition, at a place other than the site that was the subject of the auction?
Holding
It does. Read against the related provisions, the amendment history and the legislative purpose, 'that industrial waste' in Article 17(9) means waste generated at the site that was the object of the auction, and it includes waste deposited elsewhere at the time of acquisition. Where, however, the acquirer did not know at the time of acquisition that such waste was deposited elsewhere and there were special circumstances such as a legitimate reason for that ignorance, the public-law obligation in respect of that waste cannot be held to have passed to the acquirer.
Summary of the holding, verbatim
‘그 사업장폐기물’은 해당 경매 목적물인 사업장에서 발생된 사업장폐기물을 의미하고, 여기에는 인수 당시에 해당 경매 목적물인 사업장이 아닌 다른 장소에 방치된 사업장폐기물도 포함된다.
Unofficial English translation
'Such workplace waste' means the workplace waste generated at the workplace that is the object of the relevant auction, and it includes workplace waste left abandoned at a place other than the workplace that is the object of the relevant auction as of the time of acquisition.
Disposition
Reversed and remanded Stated in the decision
원심판결을 파기하고, 사건을 광주고등법원에 환송한다.
Unofficial English translation
The judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Gwangju High Court.
Form of the test
Elements stated Stated in the decision
다만 인수자가 인수 당시에 경매 목적물인 사업장이 아닌 다른 장소에 방치된 사업장폐기물이 존재한다는 사실을 알지 못하였고 그와 같이 알지 못한 데 정당한 사유가 있었다는 등 특별한 사정이 있는 경우에는
Unofficial English translation
However, in cases where the acquirer did not know, at the time of acquisition, that there existed workplace waste left abandoned at a place other than the workplace that is the object of the auction, and there were special circumstances, such as there being justifiable reasons for not knowing in that manner,
Factors
- 방치되는 사업장폐기물의 발생을 예방하기 위하여 오염원인자 책임원칙을 확장한 특별규정으로서
- 해당 경매 목적물인 사업장에서 발생된 사업장폐기물을 의미하고
- 인수자가 인수 당시에 경매 목적물인 사업장이 아닌 다른 장소에 방치된 사업장폐기물이 존재한다는 사실을 알지 못하였고
- 그와 같이 알지 못한 데 정당한 사유가 있었다는 등 특별한 사정이 있는 경우에는
Unofficial English translation
• as a special provision that extends the principle that the party responsible for contamination bears liability in order to prevent the occurrence of workplace waste that is abandoned,
• means the workplace waste generated at the workplace that is the object of the relevant auction, and
• the acquirer did not know, at the time of acquisition, of the existence of workplace waste left abandoned at a place other than the workplace that is the object of the auction, and
• in cases where there were special circumstances, such as there being justifiable reasons for not knowing in that manner,
Relation to precedent
Follows earlier decisions Stated in the decision
대법원 2002. 10. 22. 선고 2002다46331 판결(공2002하, 2797), 대법원 2021. 8. 26. 선고 2019다226548 판결
Unofficial English translation
Supreme Court Decision 2002Da46331 decided October 22, 2002 (Gong 2002 Ha, 2797), Supreme Court Decision 2019Da226548 decided August 26, 2021
Decisions referred to
대법원 2002. 10. 22. 선고 2002다46331 판결(공2002하, 2797), 대법원 2021. 8. 26. 선고 2019다226548 판결
Burden of proof
Not addressed Not in the decision
Open question and revisit condition
What circumstances make an acquirer's ignorance of off-site waste legitimate for the purposes of the exception in Article 17(9)?
The retrial judgment from the Gwangju High Court, once it finds or rejects a legitimate reason for the buyer's ignorance, will show how the exception is applied in practice. Any amendment to Article 17 of the Waste Management Act, or a later decision varying the range of succession, would require this entry to be read again.
Cross-family AI independent reading & axis check
8 of 8 axes matched GPT-6 Astra (OpenAI, codex CLI) · 2026-10-24
A reader from another model family (GPT-6 Astra), given the official text but not the primary reading, agreed on all 8 axes.
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 Gwangju High Court, in its judgment of 7 December 2023 (2023Nu11909), held that a person who acquires all or part of a waste generator's site through auction under the Civil Execution Act succeeds in a blanket way to the generator's public-law obligations in respect of industrial waste deposited even at a place other than that site. It did not examine whether the plaintiff had a legitimate reason for not knowing that the waste existed when it acquired the site, and held straight away that the grounds for the measure order existed.
Supreme Court standard: The Supreme Court held that the court below had misread the range of the rights and obligations passing under Article 17(9) and had failed to conduct the necessary hearing. The scope of succession for a buyer who simply purchases all or part of a site at auction need not be the same as under Article 17(8), which governs a comprehensive transfer of the business; and where the waste lies off-site, imposing the processing duty without limitation would conflict with the principle of personal responsibility and the prohibition of excessive restriction. The judgment was reversed and the case sent back for retrial.
Distinguishing conditions
- Industrial waste deposited within the site that was the object of the auction, since the Court held that such waste plainly falls within the scope of succession.
- An acquirer who knew when acquiring the site that waste was deposited elsewhere, or who had no legitimate reason for that ignorance, since the exception turns on both.
- A transfer of the business under Article 17(8), such as a sale, death, merger or division, where the former operator's position passes over as a whole.
Record verification notes
Establish first where the waste was at the moment of acquisition and whether that place was inside the auctioned site, since the whole rule turns on that line. Then assemble the record on what the buyer could have known from the auction process, including the appraised value and the sale price against the cost of processing the waste, which the Court said could far exceed their difference. Confirm the version of Article 17 in force, as the obligation here rested on Article 17(9) while the measure order against the generator was made under Article 48(ii) of the former Act.
From the official text
Points at issue
폐기물관리법 제17조 제9항에서 사업장폐기물사업자의 사업장을 인수한 자가 사업장폐기물배출자의 공법상 의무를 승계하는 대상으로 정한 ‘그 사업장폐기물’의 의미 및 여기에 인수 당시 해당 경매 목적물인 사업장이 아닌 다른 장소에 방치된 사업장폐기물도 포함되는지 여부(원칙적 적극) / 인수자에게 위와 같은 사업장폐기물에 관한 공법상 의무가 승계된다고 볼 수 없는 예외적인 경우
Unofficial English translation
The meaning of 'such workplace waste,' which Article 17 (9) of the Wastes Control Act designates as the object of succession, by a person who has acquired the place of business of a workplace waste business operator, to the public-law obligations of the workplace waste generator, and whether it also includes workplace waste left abandoned at a place other than the workplace that is the object of the relevant auction as of the time of acquisition (affirmative in principle) / exceptional cases in which the public-law obligations concerning such workplace waste cannot be regarded as having been succeeded to by the acquirer
Summary of the holding
폐기물관리법 제2조 제3호, 제17조 제1항에 따르면, ‘사업장폐기물’은 대기환경보전법, 물환경보전법 또는 소음·진동관리법에 따라 배출시설을 설치·운영하는 사업장이나 그 밖에 대통령령으로 정하는 사업장에서 발생하는 폐기물을 의미하고, ‘사업장폐기물배출자’는 사업장폐기물을 배출하는 사업자를 의미한다. 폐기물관리법 제17조 제9항은 "민사집행법에 따른 경매, 채무자 회생 및 파산에 관한 법률에 따른 환가나 국세징수법·관세법 또는 지방세징수법에 따른 압류재산의 매각, 그 밖에 이에 준하는 절차에 따라 사업장폐기물배출자의 사업장 전부 또는 일부를 인수한 자는 그 사업장폐기물과 관련한 권리와 의무를 승계한다."라고 규정하고 있다. 폐기물관리법 제17조 제9항은, 폐기물관리법 제17조 제7항이 2010. 7. 23. 법률 제10389호로 개정되면서, 당초 "민사집행법에 따른 경매 등에 따라 사업장폐기물배출자의 사업장 전부 또는 일부를 인수한 자는 ‘그 사업장에 방치된 폐기물’을 적절하게 처리하여야 한다."라고 규정하였던 것이 이와 같이 ‘그 사업장폐기물’과 관련한 권리와 의무를 승계한다고 변경된 것이다. 폐기물관리법 제17조 제9항은 방치되는 사업장폐기물의 발생을 예방하기 위하여 오염원인자 책임원칙을 확장한 특별규정으로서, 민사집행법에 따른 경매 등에 따라 사업장폐기물배출자의 사업장을 인수한 자가 사업장폐기물배출자의 공법상 권리·의무를 승계한다는 취지이다. 이와 같은 관련 규정의 내용, 개정 연혁, 입법 취지 등에 비추어 보면, 폐기물관리법 제17조 제9항에서 사업장폐기물사업자의 사업장을 인수한 자가 사업장폐기물배출자의 공법상 의무를 승계하는 대상으로 정한 ‘그 사업장폐기물’은 해당 경매 목적물인 사업장에서 발생된 사업장폐기물을 의미하고, 여기에는 인수 당시에 해당 경매 목적물인 사업장이 아닌 다른 장소에 방치된 사업장폐기물도 포함된다. 다만 인수자가 인수 당시에 경매 목적물인 사업장이 아닌 다른 장소에 방치된 사업장폐기물이 존재한다는 사실을 알지 못하였고 그와 같이 알지 못한 데 정당한 사유가 있었다는 등 특별한 사정이 있는 경우에는, 인수자에게 해당 사업장폐기물에 관한 공법상 의무까지 승계된다고 볼 수 없다.
Order
원심판결을 파기하고, 사건을 광주고등법원에 환송한다.
Unofficial English translation
The judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Gwangju High Court.
Provisions referred to
구 폐기물관리법(2010. 7. 23. 법률 제10389호로 개정되기 전의 것) 제17조 제7항(현행 제17조 제9항 참조), 폐기물관리법 제2조 제3호, 제17조 제1항, 제9항
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