대형마트 영업제한의 법리적 쟁점과 개선방안

Abstract

After the business restrictions of the Distribution Industry Development Act ("Act") of 17, January 2012 came into effect, controversy arose over the issue of whether rented stores in large retail discount stores should also be included in the scope of restriction in the Act. The conflicting arguments are as following: Large retail discount stores argue that rented stores in large retail discount stores are also small and medium sized retailers, the party the Act aims to protect. Thus they argue that the rented stores in large retail discount stores should not be restricted. On the other hand, small and medium sized retailers argue that in order to protect the bushiness community of street markets rented stores in large retail discount stores albeit their size should be restricted considering the fact that they are also part of the large retail discount stores. The controversy over rented stores in large retail discount stores seems to reflect the improperness of regulation in protecting small and medium sized retail industries. It divides small and medium sized retailers to those who are regulated and who are not and the collision between these two parties result in the fight over the scope of regulation. However, the underlying cause of such collision lies in the imprecision of the Act, in that its definition and classification of the retail industry is not sophisticated enough. In other words, the Act first classifies small retail stores and then aims to protect them accordingly. However the classification itself is inaccurate and thus has led to such controversy. Moreover, restrictions inconsistent with the whole system of the Act were added and this has made it harder to make consistent, unified interpretations of the Act To toggle such problems, I first reviewed the specific clauses of the Act and studied relevant foreign precedents. Then I reviewed and analyzed the arguments for and against restricting rented stores in large retail discount stores and tried to analyze the situation in the perspective of the distribution law. Finally, I propose some solutions to the problems that might appear as the result of the restriction.