소년보호제도의 국제적 실태와 과제

Abstract

Many nations are now experiencing increasing problems of juvenile delinquents who subsequently make their transition to becoming adult offenders. This vicious cycle has become a dominant cause for disruption of social order and justice. Focusing on this phenomenon, this article purports to seek a development plan for Korean Juvenile Protection System by comparing juvenile protection systems of various nations such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, and Japan and also by analyzing how these nations operate their systems to provide a safe haven for juvenile delinquents. As for the directions for the improvement, history of each nation’s juvenile protection system and chronicles of the system’s developmental process are reviewed. In addition, each country’s current trend on offenses committed by adolescents, procedures for juvenile criminal cases, juvenile justice institutions and their functions, and treatment programs for juvenile delinquents are examined. It is worth noting that, except China, one common characteristic each country exhibits in managing its juvenile justice system is the separation between juvenile offenders and adult criminals. Other notable features in juvenile justice systems in these nations can be summarized as I-Level1 classification system, the UK’s ISSP program, France’s education program for art and culture, Germany’s expansion of juvenile inmate’s right to contact with outside world, Japan’s development on medical treatment for young offenders, China’s education focusing on the communist ideology. To state the conclusion, the major challenge which the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, and Japan face in the development of Juvenile Justice System is the difficulty of promoting restorative justice programs when managing juvenile justice system. In order to achieve a rehabilitation-focused justice system, countries must employ programs which encourage lives of juvenile delinquents to be more future-oriented. Such programs can be summarized as follows: termination of record of delinquency, supporting adolescent offender’s victim awareness program on character education, competently executing the role of a counselor by juvenile-protection-personnel, and building a system of cooperation and legal protection with related social institutions.