피해자 보호를 위한 제조물책임법 개선안 연구 -피해자 증명책임의 경감과 미국 증거개시제도의 도입을 중심으로-

Abstract

The current Product Liability Act has been in effect for 20 years, but the utilization of the Product Liability Act remains low. This can be seen as evidence that the Product Liability Act is not effectively fulfilling its function of protecting victims. To address this issue, it is worth considering reducing the burden of proof on the victim in the Product Liability Act and introducing the American Discovery system. First, it is desirable to amend Article 3-2 of the Product Liability Act to presume a defect in the product when an accident occurs while the product is being used in a normal manner, making it more favorable for the victim. While there are concerns about the potential misuse and excessive costs of the Discovery system in the United States, its advantages are substantial. Above all, there is a lack of effective sanctions in the current civil procedure law, such as the document production order system, making it difficult to expect the system's activation. To supplement this, it is necessary to introduce elements of the American Discovery process, such as interrogations, requests for production of documents, electronically stored information, and tangible things, as well as depositions. Furthermore, it is essential to establish effective sanctions for non-compliance with the Discovery process, as the system can only operate smoothly with such measures in place. Therefore, we have also considered sanctions while referring to the American Discovery procedure regulations.