피해자 중심적 소년사법・보호정책으로의 전환에 관한 시론

Abstract

In fact, the recent crisis in Juvenile Law has been largely brought on by experts. Until now, it has been relatively overlooked that there are victims suffering from crimes of juveniles and they have been overly neglected by the dogma of the juvenile protection ideology. From the perspective of citizens who could be potential victims of a juvenile’s crime, they would not agree to a parrot-like theme of juvenile protection ideology, excluding the victim's view. Already in many countries, the implementation of victim-centered criminal procedures has become an important theme of judicial reform, and in Korea, victims' rights in criminal procedures have been strengthened. Given that the juvenile law is a special criminal law, it is time to seek a shift to victim-centered juvenile justice and protection policies in which victims' views can be projected by viewing them as subjects of rights, not as consideration. However, given that the meaning of "victim-centered" should not mean sacrificing or abandoning the juvenile's rights or interests for the benefit of the victim, the government must carefully examine to what extent it can consider the rights or recovery of the victim's rights in the related procedures or treatment process, with the context of protection ideology, protection procedures and treatment in mind. As a means of implementing victim-centered juvenile justice, this article proposed the guarantee of victims' information rights, the guarantee of the victim's right to state his/her opinion, the introduction of restorative disposition, and the reflection of the recovery of damages in the course of treatment. Through the introduction of such legislation and policies, I hope that the juvenile law will contribute to the restoration of the juvenile’s rehabilitation and the recovery of the victim's damage.