법률구조제도의 개선에 관한 연구 - 대한법률구조공단을 중심으로 -

Abstract

‘Legal Aid’ refers broadly to a legal advocacy that provides legal assistance, legal representation, advocacy, and support to various legal affairs to those who are economically disadvantaged or unaware of the law and who are not adequately protected by law as it aims at advocating basic human rights and contributing to the promotion of legal welfare. While the legal market is rapidly changing, there are growing concerns that the legal aid system needs to be expanded in order to realize the right to appeal for trials and improve the legal welfare, so as to guarantee the legal access such as public defenders and legal aid in civil cases of the people. In this study, the US, and japanese legal aid system were reviewed, and the research presents key implications to the korean legal aid system since those are analogous to korean legal aid system. After the Global financial crisis, as the US legal aid system has experienced, the number of people who are in need of legal aid, such as north korean defector, migrant workers and multicultural families and etc, are increasing at a rapid pace in Korea. In this situation, the strategies to guarantee judicial access by advanced countries such as the U.S. Judicial Access Committee and Japan’s Judicial Support Center are important references in Korea’s current situation. Whether it is a legal aid by the korea legal aid corporation or korean bar associate, or a public defender in the civil or criminal sector, the legal aid system is an important means to ensure the right of the people to be tried by guaranteeing their access to justice. Korea is spending as much national budget as developed countries, and the welfare budget has been greatly expanded. It is time for us to pay attention to the legal welfare of criminal suspects and other litigants who are in need of legal aid. As there has not yet been much public consensus on such legal welfare in society, with the help from legal experts, the National Assembly, and the government, it is necessary to implement organizational changes so to guarantee the independence of Korea Legal Aid Corporation, and to establish a committee to manage the legal aid overall in the long term.