규제행정법에서의 규제과학의 의미에 관한 小考

Abstract

Today, the regulation of economic activity is closely linked to advances in science and technology. For example, it is traditionally a question of whether genetically modified foods can be deemed scientifically safe for distribution, and standards for radiation leakage for newly developed equipments and facilities of radiation. There is also a question of the specific level of regulation of safety standards for new types of food and drugs. The assessment of these potential risks and the setting of risk standards depend on the development of science and technology. Until now, we have traditionally considered the realm of public administration, which is responsible for regulation, and the realm of science and technology, which produces high-tech goods through new technologies based on specialized scientific knowledge, to be completely separate. From this perspective, the public administration determines whether new goods or objects related to the health and safety of the public need to be regulated, and to what extent they are harmful to the human body. Here, the science and technology played a role in providing policy makers with relevant scientific facts and information. On the other hand, the development of science and technology and the introduction of new state-of-the-art technologies create uncertain risks in the field of modern regulatory administrative law. How regulatory authorities should respond to these uncertain risks is the challenge of today's regulatory innovation and regulatory administrative law. In this regard, ‘Regulatory Science’ can act as a guide for regulators. ‘Regulatory Science’ predicts and evaluates the degree of benefits and risks that a technology will bring to our society in the future. It is a science that aims to provide criteria for the safety and risk of science and technology. Until now, there has been no in-depth research on regulatory science as an agenda of regulatory administrative law in Korea. The direction of regulatory innovation in regulatory administrative law should utilize ‘Regulatory Science’ to fulfill the dual purposes of 'Regulation' and 'Steering'. Today, it is necessary to promote the development of new technologies thanks to the Fourth Industrial Revolution and reasonable regulations for public safety. Therefore, more attention and research on the interrelationship between ‘Regulatory Science’ and ‘Regulatory Administrative Law’ is needed for future regulatory innovation.