I Became a Law School Genius – 55



I Became a Genius Law School Student Episode 55

[Act on hospice/palliative care and decisions on life-sustaining treatment for patients in the dying process]

On the screen of the laptop that Lee Haru had brought in there was a law with a name written on it that seemed to anyone to be extremely related to the topic we were currently dealing with.

“Where where?”

Hanseol also came to my side and stuck out his face.

Article 1 (Purpose) This Act guarantees the best interests of patients and respects their self-determination by stipulating hospice and palliative care decisions on life-sustaining treatment and discontinuation of life-sustaining treatment for patients in the process of dying and matters necessary for their implementation. The purpose is to protect human dignity and value.

Article 2 (Definition) The meanings of terms used in this Act are as follows. <Amended 2018. 3. 27.>

1. “End-of-life process” refers to a state in which there is no possibility of recovery there is no recovery despite treatment and symptoms are rapidly worsening leading to imminent death.

2. “Patient in the process of dying” refers to a person who has received a medical judgment from the doctor in charge and one specialist in the relevant field pursuant to Article 16 that the patient is in the process of dying.

“Ah this?”

After a series of events occurred. The hotly debated issue of legalization of euthanasia has surfaced in our society.

It was fortunate that a precedent was established clarifying the standards for legal euthanasia but that did not mean all problems were resolved.

– So how do I prove my intention to refuse life-sustaining treatment?

Did they come to us with advance notice so that we could prepare for an unfortunate situation such as vegetative state or unconsciousness?

In most cases it is due to an unexpected accident that a patient reaches that level of critical condition.

Such as a medical accident that occurred while treating another serious illness or a traffic accident where a person was hit by a truck that ran against a red light.

Therefore in reality it is often impossible to gather clues that can be used to estimate the ‘intention to refuse life-sustaining treatment’ in advance.

In fact like in the case of Grandma Kim being able to secure evidence to prove the patient’s beliefs… It may be absurd to express it this way but it was a relatively ‘lucky’ case.

Meanwhile it was equally a headache for the hospital.

The patient’s family has been demanding that life-sustaining treatment be stopped immediately but it is not easy to determine whether the evidence provided by these tyrants is sufficient for the Supreme Court to accept.

If you trusted the family and abruptly stopped the life-sustaining treatment the prosecutor would later come and say ‘That’s not legal euthanasia for this guy.’ And if they even charge him with murder the hospital will have to close that day.

Therefore voices have grown that passive euthanasia should be managed by enacting laws and creating systems rather than relying solely on precedent.

“The result was this hospice method abbreviated as the Life Sustaining Treatment Decision Act.”

“aha.”

Haru nods.

“But. “Then shouldn’t we just deal with this?”

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I cast my gaze at the area she was pointing to.

Article 17 (Confirmation of the patient’s intention) ① The doctor of the patient who wishes to make a decision to discontinue life-sustaining treatment etc. shall confirm it by any of the following methods.

3. If it does not fall under subparagraph 1 or 2 and the patient is 19 years of age or older and has a medical condition that prevents him/her from expressing his/her opinion… (omitted)… Patient’s family (persons 19 years of age or older who are eligible for any of the following items) If there are statements that match two or more people (if there is only one patient’s family this refers to the statement of that one person) this is considered the patient’s doctor after confirmation by the doctor in charge and one specialist in the relevant field.

Even if the case does not have to go to court it is stipulated in the law that if there is a unanimous statement from the family the patient will be recognized as willing to discontinue life-sustaining treatment.

With this the patient’s family can put their beloved patient to rest without suffering anymore without having to fight a difficult legal battle.

From the hospital’s perspective it’s a win-win because it saves the hospital from having to worry about it.

“but….”

I shook my head.

“This law cannot be applied to this case.”

“why?”

“Look at the date.”

I pointed to a corner of the screen.

[Enforcement on August 4 2017] [Law No. 14013 enacted on February 3 2016]

“The Life Sustaining Treatment Decision Act was enacted in 2016. The effective date is 2017.”

“Why is that?”

“Look at the case record again. When did this incident happen?

Hanseol unfolded the materials instead.

“The day A was discharged from the hospital and died was… January 13 2014.”

This happened before the Life Sustaining Treatment Decision Act was even born into the world. If you look closely at the records the indictment was also filed around that time.

So we were now in the middle of a trial that took place in 2014.

This was the reason why judgment should not be made based on the current law.

“You mean to look at the date?”

“Of course I have to see it. “The other person might point it out.”

“…Is this why you didn’t discuss life-sustaining treatment decisions from the beginning?”

“Of course.”

If the Life Sustaining Treatment Decision Act can be applied there is no need to go through the trouble of looking for precedents and weighing evidence.

By the time I checked the 2014 date in the question this law had long since been blown out of my head.

“What on earth do you not know?”

Hanseol also stuck out his tongue.

“Now is not the time to be admiring. One o’clock is busy. Let’s move on.”

Since it was concluded that euthanasia in this case was not legal it would be a crime in some form.

The problem is the crime and the form of participation.

“First of all it’s murder right?”

Hanseol said while looking at his laptop.

“An incident where a father took his son off the ventilator to relieve his pain. “It was concluded as murder.”

“I guess so.”

I nodded.

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“But that’s not the end.”

“then?”

“The setting of the defendant in this case is a bit strange.”

“The defendant… was Lee Eul-nam a doctor.”

“okay.”

It’s already strange. When creating a problem in the form of a record like this the implicit rule is that the defendant starts with ‘Kim Gap-dong’.

The name that appears only in cases where there are two defendants is Lee Eul-nam.

However in this case Kim Gap-dong or his son who requested A’s discharge from the hospital is not the defendant.

On the other hand Lee Eul-nam the doctor who discharged A after receiving the request and having him write a memorandum is set as a defendant.

When we put all of these circumstances together there is only one conclusion.

“Originally there would have been two defendants in this matter.”

“two?”

“okay. Both Kim Gap-dong and Lee Eul-nam.”

Then the front and back are correct.

Aren’t these two people who are directly involved in criminal euthanasia?

First it was designed as a problem to consider the guilt of both Kim Gap-dong and Lee Eul-nam and then after everything was done Kim Gap-dong was excluded from the defendants.

It is natural to think that way.

“Uhm. “Why did you do that?…”

“If you were asking about motivation the grading criteria would have been the issue.”

In this game the criteria for determining victory or defeat are already complicated.

As before it is not as neatly divided as if you are guilty you win if you are not guilty you lose.

It is said that the score is calculated by complexly considering how consistent the claim of the crime is with the arguments proving it and how unfavorable the outcome is for the defendant.

The fact that there are two defendants here makes my head hurt too much.

A ruling may be favorable to defendant 1 but unfavorable to defendant 2 or vice versa.

It is not easy to compare the degrees of advantages and disadvantages.

So in order to make the scoring criteria as clean as possible the number of defendants was reduced to one.

“It’s a reasonable explanation though.”

Iharu tilted his head.

“So what happened?”

“I’m asking you to think about why out of the two Lee Eul-nam was left behind.”

Two defendants. Kim Gap-dong and Lee Eul-nam.

If you fix the problem and think about why the test taker chose Lee Eul-nam as the only defendant rather than Kim Gap-dong you will see the ‘correct answer’ to this problem.

“Guys.”

After finishing my judgment I declared.

“Let’s go with this charge.”

* * *

When the time came I went to court again.

Our team is at the prosecutor’s table. And Koo Min-hwan’s team all sat down in the seats reserved for the defendant and defense attorney.

“Wow it’s finally starting.”

“I’ve already learned a lot just by watching the preparation process so what else can I show you this time?”

I thought the audience might be a little more distant during the data analysis time but it actually felt like the audience was more crowded than before entering.

“Minhwan fighting!”

And many of them were second graders cheering for Minhwan Koo.

In fact these people were not particularly close or had a favorable relationship with Gu Min-hwan.

From the beginning Koo Min-hwan himself did not show much interest in the writers.

“….”

Even now he was staring intently at the written documents and materials he had prepared without even giving a glance to those who were chanting his name.

So what is the identity of this response?

“You can’t lose! “Let’s show the class of the second graders!”

The answer was here.

For the civil affairs side the finals and representative selection had already ended.

Of course it was Shin Seo-jun’s team that won.

If our team won even in the criminal field it would be the first time in history that second-year students would have lost entirely and the Korean University Law School national team would be made up of only first-year students.

– That’s just unacceptable!

Such an agreement was being made secretly.

Even if I lose it’s okay to lose to Minhwan Koo.

Because the experience I have built from the beginning is different from that of an ordinary law school student.

However there was no way for the first-year students who had entered school less than half a year ago to lose their crowns and lose their honor.

“…hmm.”

At that time Gu Min-hwan raised his head.

Then his dark deep eyes as if they were going to be sucked in were directed not at the audience but directly at me.

“Do you have anything to say?”

I met his gaze and asked.

“…I said I beat that guy.”

“That’s the way it is.”

I’m in first place. Shin Seo-jun tied for second place.

Even though it only happens once a win is a win anyway.

It can’t be said to be an eternal victory and in order to maintain this ranking you’ll have to study while getting nosebleeds even during the final exams.

“I look forward to it.”

With a brief word Gu Minhwan’s eyelids closed again.

‘He just says what he wants to say.’

Actually I also had something I wanted to ask Minhwan Koo.

Why does Shin Seo-jun hate you? What happened in the past?…

If I remember correctly this was the first time Shin Seo-jun acted for something other than his own ‘purpose’.

As I intervened a movement occurred that was clearly different from the original.

The legal argument itself was an episode unrelated to the main story but if Shin Seo-jun’s actions go wrong it is difficult to predict and prepare for what will happen in the future.

If possible it was necessary to know what happened between him and Gu Min-hwan.

‘But that’s a story after we win this game.’

The first priority is to defeat Koo Min-hwan.

I took another deep breath gathered my wits and exchanged glances with my two teammates.

“Then let’s begin. Prosecutor side. “Please state everything.”

Following those instructions I stood up.

“Respected Judge.”

From now on the real fight begins.