韓國刑法上兒童虐待予防に關する考察 = Korean Criminal Regulations for Child Abuse

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Korean have considered their children very preciously. However, child abuse has been increased rapidly in Korea with the collapse of the conventional large family system and the high divorce rate since the last decade. Also the failure of the small and mid-size company and the increase of unemployment under the economic crisis In 1997 have accelerated child abuse, neglect, abandonmemt, exploiration and ere. It has caused severe social problem, and we should begin to consider these problems in the social level to bring up our children ill good mental and physical health. UN adopted the Declaration on the Rights of [he Child to protect child from abuse and neglect at the 14th Conference in 1959. UN also adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child unanimously at the 44`h Conference in 1989. These treaties have supported the signatory of the treaty to improve the national laws and policies to ensure alternative care for such children. Working with special child protection laws, we are involved in the effort to prevent the abuse and neglect of our countrys children. In particular, the criminal law applies a number of rigorous regulations on ehe offense concerned with child abuse. We have implemented the following laws that have had a significant impact on child protection: the criminal law contains the articles for the infant abandonment(§272), child abuse (§273), child exploitation (§274), child death or injury due to abuse (§275). Especially, we adopted the criminal law concerned with the child capture or abduction (§287), child capture, abduction and trade using the child for sexual harassment and other production of profit(§288), forced sexual harassment(§298), rape(§297), molesters(§298), adultery with under age(§302), fornication or molestation with children under rhe age of 13(§305) to guard the children from sexual abuse. As seen in the Asian legal proverb, jaw should not intervene within home affairs, people have believed that the supervision or guardianship of child should only depend on their own family. The reason that we are unsuccessful m the appropriate punishment of the child abuse is as following: First, it is hard to distinguish the crime or maltreatment by parents or other person legally responsible for his/her care from their legal disciplinary bearing. (In general, it is allowed to beat their children for education in Asia). Second, it is difficult for the child, the complainant, to access to the legal proceeding since underage has no way to rake advantage of the laws by themselves. Third, it is not allowed in Korean criminal procedure law(§224) to bring suit against its linear ascendant. These fans under the current legal system make punishment of the abusers very difficult. In addition, it usually results in the breakdown of the family when we punish the father who may be responsible for the livelihood of the family. However, it has recently been made possible for a victim to sue his or her parents as long as it involves sexual abuse, thanks co the effort to the enlightened people in Korea. In this regard, we should provide appropriate policy and regulation to make difference through the reeducation of its parents, labor service, medical care system and so forth.