미국법상 형사증거개시제도에 관한 고찰 - 몇 가지 쟁점에 대한 비교법적 시사점 -

The purpose of this study is to grasp American criminal discovery in its totality and to examine several points at issue in Korean discovery rules, which are influenced by American pre-trial discovery. In Part Ⅱ, I discussed the major contentions, of which point of view could be represented in Korean practice, advanced by proponents and opponents in the discovery debate. I concluded that broad discovery is necessary to enhance the reliability of fact-finding because restrictions on discovery under- mine confidence that determinations of guilt or innocence are reliably made. In Part Ⅲ, I then reviewed the American criminal discovery, including the federal constitutional standards for disclosure of evidence to the defense, court rules and statutes, the operation of discovery provisions and open-file policy of American prosecutors. In Part Ⅳ, I examined several issues both in interpretational points and in legislative suggestions in Korean discovery rules, including the essence and functions of discovery rules that guide the discovery rules in theory and practice, the applicability of Brady rules to the Korean practice as a means of broad discovery and the need for expansion to early investigative stage. Finally, Part Ⅴ of this Article suggests the basic principles that should guide discovery rules, along with suggestions for specific rules that will increase the reliability of outcomes in criminal cases. With this basic prin- ciple in mind, it is possible to suggest specific discovery rules that will further them at the stage of investigation before the filing of indictment.