향후 형사법 개정의 방향 ― 형사소송법의 개정을 중심으로 ―

Abstract

This arcticle was based on the key-note speech of “Criminal Judicial System Revision Seminar for the Judges,” which was held at the Judicial Research and Training Center in November, 2004. The author argued that the current problems of Korean Criminal Judicial System had been caused by the authoritative Japanese Criminal Judicial System during the Japanese occupation. In addition, the author raised some issues of current Korean Criminal Judicial System and made suggestions to solve them. In this article, the backwardness and undemocratic malpractices of Japanese Criminal Judicial System were explored. Efforts of Korean people to liquidate the past after the liberation in 1945 were also analyzed. The effect of New Japanese Criminal Procedure Act of 1948 on Korean Criminal Procedure Act and its limitation were discussed. The revision processes after the establishment of Korean Criminal Procedure Act were also reviewed. The author pointed out that some problems of Korean Criminal Judicial System were caused by uncritical imitations of Japanese Criminal Procedure Act. Finally, it has been emphasized that the current system should be revised in a way that the lay-persons could easily understand the process. In order to do so, the author suggested that the whole revision of current Criminal Procedure Act is necessary with regard to the current reform of Criminal Justice System.