상업장부등의 전자적 보존 활성화를 위한 상법 제33조의 재검토

Abstract

The information telecommunication technology has revolutionized the communications world like nothing before. The rapid development of electronic information technologies, including Internet and the World Wide Web, has considerably advanced methods of communication. Electronic Document represents one of the most successful examples of the benefits of easy and rapid communication. Electronic document is the principal method of on-line civil service provided by the Government and is the vehicle for the electronic commercial transaction (ECommerce). Korea's expertise in the digitization of administrative work procedures and civil services through IT applications has been highly recognized and topped in both categories of the e-government readiness index and e-participation index in the United Nations E-Government Survey 2010. the use of the electronic documents also has proliferated as E-commerce is diffused over the Private sectors. However, despite the spread of electronic services and businesses, the paper consumption still grows continuously. The domestic consumption of paper has reached 42.5 billion sheets of paper as of Year 2008, and government agencies in 2008 spent about 10 billion sheets of paper, showing the trend that the average annual growth rate is more than 20%. Corporate annual paper consumption is on average 15.9 per capita in the box and, if 1 box is considered 2,500 sheets of paper,can be also estimated at approximately 39,855 sheets of paper per capita per year. Even if the development of IT technology built the environment for practical use of electronic document, Government has to provide the various policies for the dissemination and diffusion of electronic document in order to reduce the unusual increase of paper consumption and to pursue the Green Information. However, there are concerns that the legal constraints would be the obstacle for implementing these policies and might result in hindering the spread of electronic document. Framework Act on Electronic Commerce prescribes the basic principles for the validity of electronic documents in private transaction and recognizes the custody of electronic documents and documents subjects to conversion to electronic documents. This Act applies throughout commercial transactions in general. However,Commercial Act prescribe that trade books and all important documents relating business shall be preserved for a period of ten years and the slips and similar documents shall be kept for five years, and the books and documents may be preserved by means of the microfilms and other data processing systems. However,the even though these documents can ben preserved by electronic information processing system. However, Enforcement Decree of the Commercial Act prescribes that if books and document required to be signed and sealed by the law, the original with signature and the seal shall be preserved. This legal constraints limits the electronic means of preservation of trade books. In other words, Commercial Act imposes a duty to preserve the orignal paper of balance sheet, articles of association, various kinds of proof of certificate etc and does not clarify whether the documents preserved by the electronic means is deemed as the original document This article will examine and analysis wether the Commercial Act provisions that premises the preservation of the original paper documents is appropriate for today's information technology based industrial and business environment and propose an improvement method for invigorating and boosting the preservation of trade book by the electronic means.