누범 규정에 대한 비판적 고찰

Abstract

Korean current law has the regulations of repeated crime as a penal measure for reducing second offense. Article 35 of Korean Criminal Law provides that (1) a person who, having been punished with imprisonment without prison labor or more severe punishment within three years after the date on which the execution has been completed or remitted, commits such crimes as shall be punished with imprisonment without prison labor or more severe punishment shall be punished as a repeating offender and (2) punishment for a repeated crime may be aggravated to twice the maximum term of that specified for such crime. Some special criminal acts have similar regulations of repeated crime. For example, Article 5-5 of Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes provides that any person who was sentenced to any punishment for a crime prescribed in Articles 337 or 339 of the Criminal Act, or the attempt thereof, again commits the crime within three years after the execution of the sentence is completed or exempted, shall be punished by capital punishment, by imprisonment for life or by imprisonment for not less than ten years. This paper attempts to ascertain whether the regulations of repeated crime have some justification and eligibility as criminal law norms and preventive countermeasures of recidivism. To this end, it is mainly examined what can admit to increase the degree of blame in what part of repeated crime, and whether the regulations of repeated crime are effective for purpose of the legislation as a matter of effectiveness.