교회 분쟁에 대한 법원판결에 관한 고찰

Abstract

The cases of church disputes not being able to be resolved in an ecclesiastical court, but moving to national court are growing. This dissertation focuses on introducing recent court’s decisions regarding church disputes that pastors or believers must know, and made some proposals on these issues. The reason for placing emphasis on these points is that it is necessary for theologians or pastors to understand what kind of disputes in relation to church is taking place, and what decision National court makes on church dispute, and to prevent this dispute in advance. First of all, regarding church property, the court regards church property as collective ownership, and an individual cannot claim ownership of property once property is vested in the church. If the church is divided, division is not accepted due to the Supreme Court’s precedent in 2006, but if 2/3 of the members leave a church, left members are approved to have collective ownership of property. However, it is not desirable to settle church property by having majority vote, and approval to have collective ownership must go to remaining members of church. Also, as qualification for church members regarding church property dispute can be problematic, it is necessary to regulate this precisely in the article of association. Secondly, the court’s fundamental approach to church’s trial on discipline is not getting involved in it, but regarding the status of an individual, it is said to be subject to judicial review. However, looking at church’s trial on discipline related issues, problem with inconsistency is found. In this regard, it is proposed that the church’s trial on discipline is excluded from judicial review, and that only those cases with illegal acts or with violating procedural regulation should be subject to the judicial review. Lastly, the court needs to expand its interpretation of obstruction of worship which is only in times close proximity to the service, and regarding theft and embezzlement it is necessary to be careful about these issues by looking at relevant legal disputes. Furthermore, if it is not possible to resolve church disputes inside the church, it is suggested to receive help from an independent institution which specializes in resolving the church’s disputes, not by the National Court of Justice. Eventually, it is desirable for the church itself to strengthen reform and voluntary regulations to give no room for the judiciary to intervene, and the judiciary should also settle itself without involving in any church disputes.