경찰의 초동수사와 한미SOFA협정문 쟁점사항 분석

Abstract

Treaty is an international pact that legally binds its parties under the rules of international law and provides legal rights and obligations for those parties. The Mutual Defense Treaty between the Republic of Korea and the United States has contributed to deterring war in the Korean peninsula and keeping the peace and stability of the entire Northeast Asian region. By the way, Article 22 of the Status of Forces Agreement(SOFA), which was stipulated according to Article 4 of the same treaty and contains the provisions of criminal jurisdiction, has many problems in relation to the exercise of judical power over crimes by US soldiers stained in Korea. To solve the problems, first of all, it should be obliged that if a US solider commit a crime, a US government representative for him appears before the police in less than 1 hour, but the representative is not allowed to involve in the investigation of the suspect. But actually, US soldiers caught in the act of crime misuse the provisions contained in Article 22 of SOFA. In addition, the above mentioned appearance is little performed. Thus, poor cooperation by the US forces makes preliminary police investigation even more difficult. Second, some SOFA provisions that limit the types of crimes(12 main crimes), for which custody prior to accusation is allowed and that show 4 prerequisites for custody extension should be eliminated. Third, the range of persons affected by the Status Forces of Agreement should be narrowed and restricted to ‘all persons who obey to the US military law’, excluding their relatives and invited contractors. In addition, measures to enforce the practice of US military guidelines for criminal case treatment such as mutual cooperation in preliminary police investigation, which includes joint approach to crime scenes and joint investigation, and in provision of materials necessary for investigation should be taken and implemented. Furthermore, the exercise of police authority, for example, holding US military criminals in custody, forcing US soldiers to be covered up by traffic accident insurance, performing search and confiscation and arresting civilian employees in the US forces or their families who fled to a US military base after committing a crime should be guaranteed. And, some SOFA provisions that put excessive privileges on US military suspects and block preliminary police investigation must be revised earlier than any other provisions.