사형폐지를 위한 입법론의 방향

Abstract

Death penalty should be abolished not for the condemned criminal who committed malicious crime, but to reinforce our own sense of rights and promote value of life respect. Thus, when the starting point of reinforcing life respect will and human rights sensibility in our society forms social consensus, the public opinion that retribution is the best and optimal value pursued by punishment will back down from the social public sentiment. Public opinion and political decision is connected to problem of who will take the burden on death penalty abolition, so shifting or dodging the responsibility will regress the level of human rights in our society. When considering what is the optimal measure to take in such circumstance, the one and only conclusion is abolition based on legislation. Thus, the 20th National Assembly is preparing to table a death penalty abolition bill(plan), but legislation sponsored by legislators have failed numerous times, and when reflecting the behavior of legislators, it seems to be waiting for the change in public opinion. However, as the legislation enforcement is available through government, the current administration which clarified its stance on abolition must deal with prior matters of reducing and organizing offences punishable by death based on statutory penalty reorganization. At the same time, the legislation policy of death penalty abolition must be changed into procedure of government introducing the legislation and the congress reviewing the legislation.