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Open Decision Ledger · Criminal law

Curfew compliance condition, its meaning and justifiable reason

Supreme Court, Dec. 24, 2025, 2024Do3387 (judgment)

Case name: 전자장치부착등에관한법률위반

Official text on the National Law Information Center

  1. Question

    When a court imposes the compliance condition under Article 9-2(1)(i) of the Electronic Device Attachment Act that the wearer refrain from going out away from the residence during specified hours such as at night, what does that condition mean, and how is it decided whether there is a justifiable reason under Article 39(3)?

  2. Holding

    The condition means that the wearer must in principle remain at the residence during those hours, since the wording fixes a set period from one time to another. Whether there is a justifiable reason under Article 39(3) is decided case by case, weighing the purpose and function of the Act, the intent of that provision, the wearer's concrete motive and circumstances, the degree of the breach and the result of it. On these facts, a defendant who had been told to return before 00:00 and how to apply for a temporary adjustment went home ten minutes past the hour after drinking at a drinking establishment, so the conduct was a breach of the condition without justifiable reason and with intent.

    Summary of the holding, verbatim

    그 준수사항의 의미는 ‘전자장치 부착기간 중 정해진 준수기간 동안 야간 등 특정 시간대에는 원칙적으로 주거지에 머물러 있어야 한다.’는 의미로 보아야 한다.

    Unofficial English translation

    The meaning of that compliance requirement must be regarded as 'during the period of attachment of the electronic device, during the designated period for observance, one must in principle remain at one's residence during certain hours such as nighttime.'
  3. Disposition

    Reversed and remanded Stated in the decision

    원심판결을 파기하고, 사건을 제주지방법원에 환송한다.

    Unofficial English translation

    The judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Jeju District Court.
  4. Form of the test

    Circumstances weighed Stated in the decision

    피고인이 준수사항을 위반하게 된 구체적인 동기와 경위, 위반의 정도, 준수사항을 위반함으로써 발생한 결과 등을 종합적으로 고려하여 구체적인 사안에 따라 개별적으로 판단하여야 한다.

    Unofficial English translation

    It must be determined individually, on a case-by-case basis, by comprehensively considering the specific motive and circumstances under which the defendant came to violate the compliance requirement, the degree of the violation, the results that arose from violating the compliance requirement, and the like.
  5. Factors

    • 전자장치부착법의 목적과 기능 및 전자장치부착법 제39조 제3항의 입법 취지를 충분히 고려하면서
    • ‘야간, 아동·청소년의 통학시간 등 특정 시간대의 외출제한’의 문언
    • 외출이 제한되는 어느 시각에서 어느 시각까지의 일정한 시간이 특정되어 있는 점
    • 피고인이 준수사항을 위반하게 된 구체적인 동기와 경위, 위반의 정도, 준수사항을 위반함으로써 발생한 결과
    • 피고인이 해당 준수사항과 관련하여 교육 또는 안내받은 내용

    Unofficial English translation

    • While fully considering the purpose and function of the Act on the Attachment of Electronic Devices, etc. and the legislative intent of Article 39 (3) of the Act on the Attachment of Electronic Devices, etc.

    • the text of 'restriction on going out during certain hours such as nighttime, and school commuting hours of children and juveniles'

    • the fact that a certain period of time, from a particular hour to a particular hour at which going out is restricted, is specified

    • the specific motive and circumstances under which the defendant came to violate the compliance requirement, the degree of the violation, and the results that arose from violating the compliance requirement

    • the content of the education or guidance the defendant received in connection with the compliance requirement

  6. Relation to precedent

    States a new standard Read from the decision

    정당한 사유가 있는지를 판단할 때에는, 전자장치부착법의 목적과 기능 및 전자장치부착법 제39조 제3항의 입법 취지를 충분히 고려하면서

    Unofficial English translation

    In determining whether there exists a justifiable reason, while fully considering the purpose and function of the Act on the Attachment of Electronic Devices, etc. and the legislative intent of Article 39 (3) of the Act on the Attachment of Electronic Devices, etc.

    Decisions referred to

    해당 본문 참조

  7. Burden of proof

    Not addressed Not in the decision

  8. Open question and revisit condition

    When a wearer leaves the residence during the restricted hours for a sudden illness without being able to report in advance, can the concrete motive and circumstances amount to a justifiable reason under Article 39(3)?

    The remand judgment, once it re-examines the curfew breach together with the drinking-limit breach and the re-violation after warning, will show how the test works on these facts. Any amendment to Article 9-2(1)(i) or Article 39(3) of the Electronic Device Attachment Act, or a later decision reading a brief breach given advance notice differently, would require this entry to be read again.

Cross-family AI independent reading & axis check

6 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 6 of the 8 axes; the readings differed on axis 6 (relation to precedent), axis 8 (open question and revisit condition).

Axis 6 (Relation to precedent): Primary “States a new standard” vs Independent “Cannot be determined”

The text expressly formulates an interpretive rule and a justification test, which can explain the primary reading's new standard label, while its lack of an explicit comparison with prior cases can explain the independent reading's unverifiable label.

정당한 사유가 있는지를 판단할 때에는, 전자장치부착법의 목적과 기능 및 전자장치부착법 제39조 제3항의 입법 취지를 충분히 고려하면서

Axis 8 (Open question and revisit condition): Primary “When a wearer leaves the residence during the restricted hours for a sudden illness without being able to report in advance, can the concrete motive and circumstances amount to a justifiable reason under Article 39(3)?” vs Independent “Under what circumstances could an unavoidable transportation disruption constitute justifiable cause for returning home after curfew?”

The primary reading asks about sudden illness without advance reporting, while the independent reading asks about unavoidable transportation disruption.

그 준수사항의 의미는 ‘전자장치 부착기간 중 정해진 준수기간 동안 야간 등 특정 시간대에는 원칙적으로 주거지에 머물러 있어야 한다.’는 의미로 보아야 한다.

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 Jeju District Court, sitting on appeal, in its judgment of 30 January 2024 (2023No754), kept the first-instance acquittal on the curfew breach. It held that returning home once, at 00:10, ten minutes after the set time, could not be treated as failing to refrain from going out, and that it was hard to conclude that the defendant had gone out intending to breach the compliance condition.

Supreme Court standard: The Supreme Court reversed. It read the condition as requiring the wearer in principle to remain at the residence during the fixed hours, and held that going home ten minutes past 00:00 after drinking, though the defendant had been educated on the content and the criminal punishment for breach and guided to return before 00:00, was a breach without justifiable reason and with intent, so the acquittal rested on a misapprehension of the law on the offence under the Electronic Device Attachment Act. It also reversed the conviction for breach of the drinking restriction, which stood in real concurrence with the reversed part under Article 37 first clause of the Criminal Act so that one sentence had to be given, and, acting on its own, the acquittal for re-violation after warning, which stood in ideal concurrence with the drinking part under Article 40 because both arose from one act of refusing a breath test by the probation officer, so the whole judgment was set aside.

Distinguishing conditions

  • A compliance condition that does not fix a set period from one time to another, since the Court relied on the fact that the restricted hours were specific.
  • A breach whose concrete motive and circumstances, degree and result together support a justifiable reason under Article 39(3).
  • A drinking-limit breach or a re-violation after warning that is not in a concurrence relation under Article 37 or Article 40 of the Criminal Act with the reversed curfew part, so that it would not have to be reversed together with it.

Record verification notes

Set the attachment order and the exact wording and dates of the curfew condition against the record, then check the probation officer's education and guidance of 1 December 2022, including the instruction to return before 00:00 and the way to apply for a temporary adjustment. Test the timeline, contact about three minutes before 00:00 and arrival at 00:10, against the meaning the Court gave the condition. Keep the drinking-limit breach and the re-violation after warning apart and check the concurrence structure, since the Court reversed the drinking part for concurrence with the curfew part and reversed the re-violation on its own initiative for concurrence with the drinking part.

From the official text

Points at issue

[1] 법원이 부착명령에 관하여 전자장치 부착 등에 관한 법률 제9조의2 제1항 제1호에 따라 ‘전자장치 부착기간 중 준수기간을 정하여 야간 등 특정 시간대에 주거지 이외로 외출을 삼갈 것’이라는 준수사항을 부과한 경우, 그 준수사항의 의미 / 같은 법 제39조 제3항에서 정한 정당한 사유가 있는지를 판단할 때 고려할 사항 [2] 피고인이 ‘야간 등 특정 시간대(00:00~06:00)에 주거지 이외로 외출을 삼갈 것’이라는 외출제한 준수사항을 부과받아 보호관찰관으로부터 위 준수사항의 내용, 부과된 준수사항 위반 시 형사처벌 내용 등에 대하여 교육을 받고, 매일 00:00 이전 귀가할 것을 지도받았으며, 앞으로 생업이나 병원 진료 등 외출 사유가 발생할 경우 사전에 담당자에게 보고하고 준수사항 일시조정 신청서를 작성하도록 안내받았음에도, 단란주점에서 음주 후 택시를 잡을 수 없어 도보로 귀가하면서 10분 동안 준수사항을 위반하였다는 내용으로 기소된 사안에서, 피고인의 행위는 전자장치 부착 등에 관한 법률 제9조의2 제1항 제1호의 준수사항을 정당한 사유 없이 위반한 때에 해당하고, 피고인에게 위 준수사항 위반의 고의 또한 있다고 한 사례

Unofficial English translation

[1] Where the court, in imposing an attachment order, has, pursuant to Article 9-2 (1) 1 of the Act on the Attachment of Electronic Devices, etc., imposed as a compliance requirement that 'during the period of attachment of the electronic device, setting a period for observance, one shall refrain from going out to places other than one's residence during certain hours such as nighttime,' the meaning of that compliance requirement / matters to be considered in determining whether there exists a justifiable reason as provided in Article 39 (3) of the same Act [2] In a case in which the defendant was imposed the compliance requirement of restriction on going out that 'during certain hours such as nighttime (00:00~06:00), one shall refrain from going out to places other than one's residence,' received education from a probation officer concerning the content of the compliance requirement, the criminal punishment to be imposed upon violation of the imposed compliance requirement, and the like, was instructed to return home before 00:00 every day, and was advised that, in the future, where a reason for going out such as one's livelihood or hospital treatment arises, one must report to the person in charge in advance and fill out an application form for temporary adjustment of the compliance requirement, yet was prosecuted on the allegation that, after drinking at a bar, being unable to catch a taxi, the defendant walked home and violated the compliance requirement for 10 minutes, the defendant's act corresponds to a case of violating the compliance requirement under Article 9-2 (1) 1 of the Act on the Attachment of Electronic Devices, etc. without justifiable reason, and the defendant also had intent to violate the compliance requirement

Summary of the holding

[1] 전자장치 부착 등에 관한 법률(이하 ‘전자장치부착법’이라 한다)의 목적, 같은 법 제9조의2 제1항의 입법 취지, 같은 법 제9조의2 제1항 제1호에서 준수사항으로 정하고 있는 ‘야간, 아동·청소년의 통학시간 등 특정 시간대의 외출제한’의 문언, 같은 법 제9조의2 제1항 제1호에 근거하여 부과된 외출제한 준수사항의 문구에 외출이 제한되는 어느 시각에서 어느 시각까지의 일정한 시간이 특정되어 있는 점 등을 종합하면, 법원이 부착명령에 관하여 전자장치부착법 제9조의2 제1항 제1호에 따라 ‘전자장치 부착기간 중 준수기간을 정하여 야간 등 특정 시간대에 주거지 이외로 외출을 삼갈 것’이라는 준수사항을 부과한 경우에 그 준수사항의 의미는 ‘전자장치 부착기간 중 정해진 준수기간 동안 야간 등 특정 시간대에는 원칙적으로 주거지에 머물러 있어야 한다.’는 의미로 보아야 한다. 한편 전자장치부착법 제39조 제3항에 의하면, 정당한 사유가 있는 경우에는 피부착자 등이 전자장치부착법 제9조의2 제1항 제1호 등의 준수사항을 위반하더라도 처벌할 수 없다. 여기서 정당한 사유가 있는지를 판단할 때에는, 전자장치부착법의 목적과 기능 및 전자장치부착법 제39조 제3항의 입법 취지를 충분히 고려하면서, 피고인이 준수사항을 위반하게 된 구체적인 동기와 경위, 위반의 정도, 준수사항을 위반함으로써 발생한 결과 등을 종합적으로 고려하여 구체적인 사안에 따라 개별적으로 판단하여야 한다. [2] 피고인이 ‘야간 등 특정 시간대(00:00~06:00)에 주거지 이외로 외출을 삼갈 것’이라는 외출제한 준수사항을 부과받아 보호관찰관으로부터 위 준수사항의 내용, 부과된 준수사항 위반 시 형사처벌 내용 등에 대하여 교육을 받고, 매일 00:00 이전 귀가할 것을 지도받았으며, 앞으로 생업이나 병원 진료 등 외출 사유가 발생할 경우 사전에 담당자에게 보고하고 준수사항 일시조정 신청서를 작성하도록 안내받았음에도, 단란주점에서 음주 후 택시를 잡을 수 없어 도보로 귀가하면서 10분 동안 준수사항을 위반하였다는 내용으로 기소된 사안에서, 피고인에게 부과된 위 준수사항의 내용, 피고인이 해당 준수사항과 관련하여 교육 또는 안내받은 내용, 피고인이 해당 준수사항을 위반하게 된 구체적인 동기와 경위, 위반의 정도 등을 종합적으로 고려하면, 피고인의 행위는 전자장치 부착 등에 관한 법률(이하 ‘전자장치부착법’이라 한다) 제39조 제3항에서 규정한 ‘피부착자가 같은 법 제9조의2 제1항 제1호의 외출제한 준수사항을 위반한 때’에 해당하고, 정당한 사유가 있다고 볼 수도 없으며, 피고인에게 준수사항 위반의 고의 또한 있다고 인정할 수 있다는 이유로, 이와 달리 본 원심판단에 전자장치부착법 위반죄의 성립에 관한 법리오해 등의 잘못이 있다고 한 사례.

Order

원심판결을 파기하고, 사건을 제주지방법원에 환송한다.

Unofficial English translation

The judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Jeju District Court.

Provisions referred to

[1] 전자장치 부착 등에 관한 법률 제9조의2 제1항 제1호, 제39조 제3항 / [2] 전자장치 부착 등에 관한 법률 제9조의2 제1항 제1호, 제39조 제3항

Read 2026-10-24 · Cross-read 2026-10-24. All quotes matched against the official text. The Chinese-character placeholders the court used for anonymised parties are given in their Korean readings, and parenthetical Chinese-character glosses are omitted.

Every entry is published only after all quotes have been matched character by character against the official text, and audited by an independent second reading from a different model family across all eight axes. Both agreed axes and text-grounded interpretive divergences are recorded openly. The ledger is a research record, not an assessment of the court or advice on any matter.

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