정치자금법상 후원회지정권자의 범위에 관한 연구

Abstract

So far, the Constitutional Court has shown a passive attitude toward improving the scope of recognition of the sponsoring association designation authority in most cases. The fact that the Constitutional Court adopted the principle of prohibition of arbitrariness in examining related regulations seems to have been an important factor. However, the provisions related to supporters’ associations under the current Political Funds Act are cases where the legitimacy of the reason for discrimination itself is questionable, as the lawmakers themselves set the norms to be followed. Therefore, it is necessary to judge the above provisions according to strict examination standards. If strict examination standards are followed, the relevant regulations under the current law may be judged to violate the minimum intrusiveness of the discriminatory effect in that they are not a means of bringing about the least burden. This is because, even if a regular support group is allowed for politicians other than active members of the National Assembly, the discriminatory purpose of proper funding and integrity in the performance of duties will be achieved through the total amount limit regulation and punishment regulation. Therefore, in future legislative discussions, it is necessary to seek alternatives in the direction of expanding the scope of the sponsoring association designation authority. Therefore, this study suggested the following alternatives. Under the current Political Funds Act, restrictions on the right to designate sponsors are in violation of the constitutional principle of equality, so ultimately it would be desirable to abolish all of them. However, as a more realistic alternative, it may be possible to consider a plan to set a considerable period before the registration date of the preliminary candidate, thereby opening the way for politicians other than members of the National Assembly to become the designation authority of the supporters association more widely.