환경범죄 예방을 위한 형법적 규제방안

Abstract

The concept of protecting environment by criminal law is quite novel in Korea. The growing importance of criminal law relating to environmental crimes can be impressively demonstrated by spectacular ecological destruction as well as lingering pollution. In the densely populated and highly industrialized Republic of Korea, the lost 20 years have seen a growing realization that any acts harming and endangering the environment must be opposed using the instrument of criminal law. An 1991 officially(by the “National Commission on Reform of the Korean Criminal Laws”) proposed “Draft of New Penal Code”(a governmental proposal) include proposal to criminalize behaviors that pollute environment by dangerous emissions and create concrete danger to life and limb. In addition to a Special Regulatory Act on Environmental Crime of 31. May 1991(Law No. 4390), pursuant to Japanese Example-Law for the Punishment of Crimes relating to the Environmental Pollution which Adversely Affects the Health of Persons (Law No. 142, 1970)-, was enacted. This special criminal law tried to control polluting activities by traditional penal-code-type definition of offences. But the Law, like the Draft of New Penal Code, did not succeed to solve the difficulties inherent in such method. Instead, the law exposed the difficulties like Japanese experience. Owing to such circumstances, researching on the environmental criminal law is still a concern to a scholar. Therefore this study is intended to elicit various theories on environment criminality and to compare of foreign environmental criminal law, for the purpose of legislative assertion against environmental criminality under the following contents.