행형법 개정과 수용자의 권리구제제도

Abstract

Living in a world governed almost entirely by the exercise of the discretion naturally generates a wide range of grievances. Accordingly it is essential that prisoners have a number of avenue of redress open to them whereby the illegal exercise of power maybe challenged, and by which compensation can be recovered for the infringement of such rights as survive in all prisoners notwithstanding there infringement. Under the Prison Act, prisoners have the right to pursue a request or complaint connected to or arising from there imprisonment with the governor of the prison. And it has long been accepted that prisoners also have the right to complaint to or petition the Minister with overall responsibility for the Prison Service and the care of prisoners. But the previous scheme was generally regarded as unsatisfactory for a number of reasons. It was inefficient, slow and lacking in coherence. The Ministry of Justice embarked upon a process of revising the Criminal Administration Act in 2004, and submitted the Revision Bill to the national Assembly on April 26. 2006. In this Bill a new system to enhance the efficiency and transparency of the correction adminstration, such as mandatory institutionalization of the corrections committee for consultation and legalization of the interview system with the governor of the prison. The new system is better than before, but still have major defects to dispel the culture of defensiveness surrounding the issue of complaints or requests. After the Seoul-Jail case in 2006 the Ministry of Justice introduced new systems, such as Sexual Assault Watch, Prison Ombudsman, and Advisory Council on Correction Affairs, to ensure consistency in monitoring human rights policies while accommodating public opinion about rights improvements and expanding popular participation in justice affairs administration in 2006. This article, therefore, reviews the new systems and suggests that these should be accepted in the Bill which is submitted to the national Assembly.