The 'personal right', which has been recognized only in limited cases such as Supreme Court precedents, is introduced into the Civil Code.
The Ministry of Justice announced today (the 5th) a legislative notice of amendments to the Civil Act that stipulate the right to claim for the exclusion and prevention of personal rights and violations of personal rights.
The amendment defined the right to personality as the right to personal interests such as life, body, health, freedom, honor, privacy, name, portrait, and personal information.
The Ministry of Justice explains that the existing civil law system is composed of ownership and bonds, and that it is designed to enable people to claim personal rights with equal rights.
In particular, a clause on the right to claim for exclusion and prevention of personal rights violations has been newly established in order to preemptively prevent violations of personal rights in case of violations of personal rights.
<Amendment to 'Civil Act' related to personal rights>
Amendment (new) Article 3-2 (personal rights)
① A person has the right to life, body, health, freedom, honor, privacy, name, portrait, personal information, and other personal interests .
(2) A person may demand that the person who infringed his/her moral right take appropriate measures to exclude the infringement and recover the infringed interests, and to guarantee the prevention or compensation of damages to the person who is likely to infringe can claim
Article 34-2 (Personal Rights of Corporations) Article 3-2 shall apply mutatis mutandis to corporations to the extent not contrary to its nature.
This is to compensate for the fact that it is difficult to secure the effectiveness of remedies with only the right to claim for ex post damages.
A typical case is when an illegally recorded transcript without consent is released through the media.
Once the amendment is passed and implemented by the National Assembly, the parties to the transcript will be able to file a claim through the court to suspend the infringement of moral rights, while notifying the media of the extent of the violation of moral rights that may occur if the transcript is disclosed in advance and compensation for the resulting damage.
However, the Ministry of Justice explains that whether or not the infringement of moral rights is recognized and the scope of compensation for damages will be revised through subsequent legislation and precedents.
The amendment also included the moral rights of a corporation, and if the reputation of a corporation is damaged by exaggerated or false advertisements, it can be constituted as infringing on the moral rights of a corporation.
As the background for the revision of the law, the Ministry of Justice is aware that personal interests such as illegal recording and filming, workplace violence, school violence, fake news distribution, digital sex crimes, and personality violations in the metaverse are occurring in various phases, and legal disputes are rapidly increasing. I heard.