해양사고에 따른 선원의 행정제재 개선방안 - 헌법상 이중처벌금지 원칙을 중심으로 -

Abstract

In Article 13(1), the Constitution of the Republic of Korea provides that "No citizen shall be prosecuted..., nor shall he be placed in double jeopardy." In its interpretation of the Article in 1994, the Constitutional Court decided that the prohibition against double jeopardy only applies to penal punishment. The decision by the Court provides a justification for the Administration to impose further administrative sanctions on the same person in addition to the prior penal punishment. Over the years, Koreans witnessed many marine accidents, most of which were closely related with seafarers' professional negligence. If a accident is serious enough to harm people's lives, the seafarer in charge of the vessel is likely to suffer penal punishment. After serving jail terms, the seafarer normally gets an additional administrative sanction such as revocation and suspension of license. As the purpose and function of the penal and administrative punishments are mostly overlapped, it is highly probable that the current practice of punishment on seafarers is against the principle of double jeopardy. However, it is practically impossible to expect the Constitutional Court or the Korean Supreme Court to change their attitude in the near future. As a solution to moderate the current situation, the author proposes an amendment to the Act on the Investigation and Inquiry into Marine Accidents. More specifically, the Maritime Safety Tribunal should be given discretionary power to exonerate those who already got penal punishment from administrative sanctions.