日韓兒童虐待法制(일한아동학대법제)의 比較(비교) = The Comparative Study of Child Abuse Law in Japan and Korea

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The United Nations adopted the Convention on the Right of the Child in 1989 on the assumption that the child has an independent character. We ratified it iol994 and they did it in 1991 in Korea. With this ratification, we have recognized the assault and neglect to their own child is not discipline at home but child abuse in Japan and Korea. The more we understand about the child abuse, the more the reports on it to me authority and police. For dealing with this matter, both countries have prepare a new legal system in 2000. To be concrete, Japanese government enacted ``Child Abuse Prevention Act`` and there was also a complete revision of ``Child Welfare Law`` in Korea. We have so many similarity in our systems that we are facing the same problem in this field. Under our legal system, we can separate the child from their parents for the reason of child abuse. When the authority send the child to some institution for the child, it is necessary to get the consent of their parents. Without the consent but their parents maltreat their child cruelly, the authority can send the battered child to an institution by having the approval of a family court. In addition, we put the person engaged in a specific occupation under an obligation to report the face of abuse, they are teacher, doctor, police and so on. But this obligation is nor legal duty. Even if they find a battered child but not report this fact, we can not punish them. As the final means to rescue a battered child, there is the Joss declaration of parental authority. We have not used this function much because this gives the child a serious impact their future. It is the biggest problem whether we can restrict the parental authority and if can, to what extent we can in case of that the battered child is sheltered in the institution. There is no provision for such a problem in both Japan and Korea. It is desirable to make a legislation and set forth guidelines for resolving the matter. We have firmly had one legal culture, ``the law does not enter the home`` for long time. Owing to this culture, legal system for the child abuse has not been functioned completely yet. However, now, we are required to change the way of thinking, ``the law enters the home`` occasionally. Because the dispute between a married couple, parents/child and family has increased in our time. Without an intervention of law, it is difficult to keep our family peaceful. All of us have to understand the time has changed and our society needs a new consideration for child welfare.