자치경찰법 제정 법안에 관한 주요쟁점 고찰

Previous governments of this country have considered introducing an independent police system operated by the local government (hereafter referred to as local police), only to have the proposal cancelled in the discussional phase. Mr. Roh's government also stipulated the introduction of a local police system which would fall under the jurisdiction of the local government. This special law would decentralize governmental power to the local governments (enacted in Jan. 2004). However, the law failed to be finalized due to the different political views of each legislative party on the subject and it is currently included in the duties Mr. Lee Myeongbak's new government has to do. It is said that although the local police force, recently under careful consideration, has had its features and systems investigated, no complete agreement for change was reached among the relevant organizations. This was due to their different opinions on the reasons for the law, application range, and budget. So there is some concern that an uneffective law might be created based on too many principles proposed by various related organizations and the mixing together of relevant laws. Therefore, the new local police system should base itself on the concept of decentralization of power and should be carried out independently under the authority of local government as well as the intervention of its residents to keep the public secure, while still taking advantage of the existing security system. A close examination needs to be made, through the gathering of information from the public, in regards to the need of this specific law and how effective it would be in the community. As well, work responsibility, schedule, and budget should be taken care of, prior to the legislation. Additionally, the police force as an organization has a duty to maintain public security and order by protecting the public from danger and by getting to the bottom of current problems, rooting out their causes so that they will not happen again. Therefore, while it is ideal to provide a police service which is relevant to the local situation and to include residents' impute in conducting the security administration, a careful approach should be made in its implementation because there might be undesirable effects or results caused by this new and immature local police system. As a result, this study is focused on how to make an effective local police system legislated through the strict examination of the merits and demerits of the local police law before undertaking the process of legislation.