▲A court has put the brakes on an on-site investigation by the Fair Trade Commission. The Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 7 granted a request filed by Hanwha and an employee asking the court to suspend the FTC's order to submit materials. It is the first decision in which a court has suspended an FTC order to produce documents. Companies have long kept silent even when the FTC and other agencies conducted administrative investigations without following due process, fearing disadvantages in the calculation of fines. We hope this decision serves as an occasion to correct heavy-handed corporate investigations and to ensure administrative probes proceed according to due process and sound legal reasoning.
