The Supreme Court stated that “the damage caused to the plaintiff exceeded the ‘limit of tolerance’ according to social convention.” (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 5 (Korea Bizwire) — The Supreme Court has ruled that a construction company is liable for damages after hundreds of parrots died due to the repeated effects of construction-induced noise and vibration.
The court overturned the trial court’s ruling that Mr. A, a parrot breeder, was not entitled to a lawsuit for damages against the construction companies and sent the case back to the Suwon High Court.
Mr. A, who owned a parrot breeding and sales center in the city of Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, lost 427 parrots from January to December 2017 due to abnormal symptoms, which he believed were caused by noise and vibration from a building construction site next door.
Despite filing 16 complaints with the Anyang City Hall from March to December, he was unable to prevent the deaths of his parrots.
Initially, the trial court ruled in favor of the construction companies, stating that the noise level measured by Anyang City Hall was below the living noise regulation standard of 70㏈. In Korea, the Noise and Vibration Control Act regulates all disputes generated in factories, construction sites, roads, railroads, and other related fields.
In the second trial, a clause in the Framework Act on Environmental Policy was presented as an argument that the person responsible for environmental pollution or damage must compensate for the damage, but it was also not accepted.
However, the Supreme Court stated that “the damage caused to the plaintiff exceeded the ‘limit of tolerance’ according to social convention.”
The court held that “the standard for determining illegality is whether it exceeds the threshold of tolerance, which is the degree of tolerance that is generally required to be endured,” and that “even if the administrative law standard is formally complied with as a minimum standard, it can be evaluated as an illegal act if it exceeds the threshold of tolerance.”
The court also noted that research and appraisals showed that the construction noise caused the death of the ornamental birds, despite efforts made by the builders to install soundproof walls six to seven months after the start of the construction.
Mr. A is seeking 250 million won in property damages and 100 million won in other damages for consolation money.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
