이토 히로부미의 한국사법정책과 그 귀결 - 영사재판권 폐지 문제와의 관계를 중심으로 -

Abstract

This article surveys the judicial policy which Itō, Hirobumi, the Resident-General of Korea, planed and promoted from 1907 to 1909. It has been said the puporse of his policy was to lead Korea to the civilized country through separating the judicial power from the administrative, reforming the court system, and drafting the Korean Code. By doing so Itō intended to prepare for the abolishment of the western Power's consular jurisdictions or extraterritorial jurisdictions in Korean territory. Itō regarded the problem of abolishing consular jurisdictions as urgent one to resolve as soon as possible in order to secure the Japan's exclusive control over Korea. This article discusses how this problem influenced the decision-making about the judicial system and relevant issues. In July 1907, the Residency-General asked the ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan to negotiate with the treaty Powers of Korea. For it, they thought, was necessary to exchange the protocol with the Powers in order to permit their citizen to reside in interior land and to have a real property right under the condition that they should observe the local rules and taxations. However it became clear that it was too premature to carry out the plan and, rather, it might cause a significant inconvenience. The Japan-U.S. Convention(the Convention for the Protection in Korea of Inventions, Designs, Trade Marks and Copy Rights, signed on 19 May 1909) and its enforcement made the French model, that France established the French court in Tunisia and succeeded in removing the other countries' consular jurisdictions, an actual and strong alternative. The legislative measure to enforce laws and regulations similar to those which exist in Japan, was introduced by the Japan's imperial ordinance on the ground of the Japanese Emperor's prerogative power. U.S. government waived the extraterritorial jurisdiction in those matters under the Convention. This result served as a momentum to lead to change the judicial policy. In July 1909 Itō abandoned consequently the gradual approach and chose the certain way. His final disposal was to make the Korean government transfer the judicial adminstration to Japan. This article argues that he intend to ensure the unified government system through the transfer of the state affairs such as justice and local government, which did not deny the protectorate formally but made Korea a colony de facto. His final disposal of Korean justice meant that it made the favorable conditions for removing the consular jurisdiction and for acquiring the Power's recognition on the annexation of Korea which should be put into practice when the opportunity has matured. In Nov. 1909, the Japanese government promulgated a series of ordinances and regulations to establish the Court of the Residency-General. The new judicial system, now unified under the hand of Japan, was the amalgam of the precedent of Japan's colonial judicial system. That means the creation of the colonial judicial system or the incorporation of the judicial system in Korea into the Japan Empire's network of the justice.