범죄피해자보호법상 유족구조금과 형사합의금 사이의 손익상계에 대한 연구

Abstract

As people pay attention to not only punishing criminals but also protecting victims these days, Victim Compensation has increased significantly. Revision of the Crime Victim Protection Act in 2010 and 2014 must have triggered these changes as well. However, budget assigned for Victim Relief Fund is still deficiently expended which means rapid and sufficient damage recovery is being hindered. Facing this problem, I started this study to find a way to maximize the amount of Victim Compensation by avoiding unneeded deduction, especially focusing on the Bereaved Relief Fund and Criminal Settlement Money. According to the Crime Victim Protection Act, Crime Settlement Money must be deducted when calculating Crime Victim Relief Fund. This article seems to reflect the Profit and Loss Offset Principle which means profit increased due to the criminal should be deducted when assessing the actual loss. Moreover Korean Civil Law classifies losses into ‘Active Property Damage’, ‘Passive Property Damage’ and ‘Mental Damage’, so profit should be deducted only from the corresponding loss category. Recent Supreme Court Decision reveals that Bereaved Relief Fund is a kind of compensation for ‘Passive Property Damage’, and Criminal Settlement Money is basically a compensation for ‘Property Damage’, which in some special conditions can be considered as money for consolation. This analysis implicate that offsetting Criminal Settlement Money may not be a necessary procedure. Considering this, the Victim Compensation Council should thoroughly go over each case to assess the maximum rate of Crime Victim Relief Fund.