Diagnosis certificates in assault cases and what counts as bodily injury

1. 01Question

   In a criminal case, how should the evidentiary weight of a medical certificate of injury be assessed where it was issued mainly on the complainant's subjective complaints of pain, and what standard governs whether the accused's act damaged bodily integrity or impaired physiological function?

2. 02Holding

   A medical certificate of injury may be strong evidence alongside the complainant's statement, but the existence and causation of the injury must still be proved beyond reasonable doubt, and where there are circumstances casting doubt on the certificate's objectivity and reliability, its weight must be assessed with great care. Where such a certificate was issued mainly on the complainant's subjective complaints of pain, the court must look at the timing of the diagnosis and issue, the circumstances of issue, whether the recorded site and degree match the claimed cause, the basis on which the doctor issued it, and the motive, timing and course of the later treatment, and judge the weight by logic and experience. Bodily injury means damage to the victim's bodily integrity or an impairment of physiological function; extremely minor wounds that would ordinarily arise in daily life, heal without treatment and leave no hindrance to daily activities are not injury, and the question is judged by the victim's concrete physical and mental condition, such as age, sex and build.

   Summary of the holding, verbatim

   형사사건에서 상해진단서는 피해자의 진술과 함께 피고인의 범죄사실을 증명하는 유력한 증거가 될 수 있다. 그러나 상해 사실의 존재 및 인과관계 역시 합리적 의심이 없는 정도의 증명에 이르러야 인정할 수 있으므로, 상해진단서의 객관성과 신빙성을 의심할 만한 사정이 있는 때에는 그 증명력을 판단하는 데 매우 신중해야 한다.

   Unofficial English translation

   In a criminal case, a certificate of injury, together with the victim's statements, may become powerful evidence proving the defendant's criminal facts. However, the existence of the fact of injury and causation must likewise be established by proof to the degree that there is no reasonable doubt before they may be recognized; therefore, where there are circumstances that cast doubt on the objectivity and credibility of the certificate of injury, one must be extremely cautious in assessing its probative value.

3. 03Disposition

   Reversed and remanded Stated in the decision

   원심판결을 파기하고, 사건을 창원지방법원에 환송한다.

   Unofficial English translation

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

4. 04Form of the test

   Circumstances weighed Stated in the decision

   의사가 진단서를 발급한 근거 등을 두루 살피는 것 외에도, 피해자가 상해 사건 이후 진료를 받은 시점, 진료를 받게 된 동기와 경위, 그 후의 진료 경과 등을 면밀히 살펴 논리와 경험법칙에 따라 그 증명력을 판단해야 한다.

   Unofficial English translation

   In addition to comprehensively examining the grounds on which the physician issued the certificate and the like, one must closely examine the point in time at which the victim received medical treatment after the injury incident, the motive and circumstances that led to the receipt of medical treatment, and the subsequent course of treatment, and must assess its probative value in accordance with logic and the rules of experience.

5. 05Factors

   • 상해 사실의 존재 및 인과관계 역시 합리적 의심이 없는 정도의 증명에 이르러야 인정할 수 있으므로
   • 상해진단서가 주로 피해자의 주관적인 통증 호소 등에 의존하여 의학적 가능성만으로 발급된 때에는
   • 진단일자 및 진단서 작성일자가 상해 발생 시점과 시간상으로 근접하고 진단서 발급 경위에 특별히 신빙성을 의심할 만한 사정은 없는지
   • 진단서에 기재된 상해 부위 및 정도가 피해자가 주장하는 상해의 원인 내지 경위와 일치하는지
   • 피해자의 연령, 성별, 체격 등 신체·정신상의 구체적 상태를 기준으로 판단해야 한다

   Unofficial English translation

   • the existence of the fact of injury and causation must likewise be established by proof to the degree that there is no reasonable doubt before they may be recognized

   • where a certificate of injury has been issued on the basis merely of medical possibility, relying mainly on the victim's subjective complaints of pain and the like

   • whether the date of diagnosis and the date of preparation of the certificate are temporally close to the time the injury occurred, and whether there are no particular circumstances warranting doubt as to the credibility of the circumstances under which the certificate was issued

   • whether the site and degree of the injury stated in the certificate accord with the cause or circumstances of the injury claimed by the victim

   • must be determined on the basis of the victim's specific physical and mental condition, such as age, sex, and physique

6. 06Relation to precedent

   Follows earlier decisions Stated in the decision

   대법원 2016. 11. 25. 선고 2016도15018 판결(공2017상, 68)

   Unofficial English translation

   Supreme Court Decision 2016Do15018 decided November 25, 2016 (Gong 2017 Sang, 68)

   Decisions referred to

   [1][2] 대법원 2016. 11. 25. 선고 2016도15018 판결(공2017상, 68)

7. 07Burden of proof

   Not addressed Not in the decision

8. 08Open question and revisit condition

   Where a medical certificate was issued long after the incident but the circumstances of issue and the course of treatment are otherwise unremarkable, what evidence is needed before its evidentiary weight can still be recognised?

   The retrial judgment of the Changwon District Court after this remand, and any later decision refining how the circumstances casting doubt on a certificate of injury are weighed, would require this entry to be read again. A change to Article 257(1) of the Criminal Act would do the same.

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.