공정거래위원회 (사진= 연합뉴스)

 

[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] The Supreme Court ruled that the penalty points imposed by the Fair Trade Commission before the division and merger of the company will be succeeded to the newly inherited company. The decision was made in a lawsuit between Hanwha System and the Fair Trade Commission to cancel the qualification for bidding.

According to legal circles, the second division of the Supreme Court (Supreme Court Justice Chun Dae-yup) filed a lawsuit against the Korea Fair Trade Commission to cancel its "request for business suspension and restrictions on bidding participation" and returned the case to the Seoul High Court, breaking the original ruling that ruled in favor of the plaintiff.

In August 2019, the FTC asked related administrative agencies to suspend Hanwha System's operations and limit its participation in bidding for public projects on the grounds that its accumulated penalty points exceeded 10 points.

The basis for the FTC's disposition is a total of 11.75 penalties imposed on the former Hanwha S＆C between November 2014 and July 2017.

The former Hanwha S＆C spun off into H Solution, a subsidiary corporation, and Hanwha S＆C, a new division corporation, in October 2017. Since then, Hanwha S＆C, a new corporation, has been merged into Hanwha Systems in August 2018.

Under the subcontracting law, the FTC asks related agencies to restrict a certain company from participating in bidding for public projects if it receives more than five penalty points for violating the subcontracting law for three years, and to suspend the construction business if it exceeds 10 points.

Hanwha System filed a lawsuit in August 2019 to cancel the FTC's decision. The Seoul High Court canceled the FTC's decision, saying, "It is hard to say that the fact that the former Hanwha S＆C violated the law and received corrective action is inherited to the Hanwha system."

The Supreme Court's judgment was different. "It is reasonable to believe that the penalty imposed on the former Hanwha S＆C was succeeded to the plaintiff (Hanhwa System) because it constitutes a fact that has a duty or property value under the public law of the company to be divided," the Supreme Court said.

 

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