범죄 피해자의 형사재판 참가에 관한 논의와 쟁점

This study concerns the ways information and views from crime victims are taken into account in criminal justice processes, especially in the trial stage. Victim participation aims to take into account the views of victims, the interests of victims or information about the effects of the crime on victims. Some jurisdictions provide victim participation schemes at the trial and sentencing stage. Active and direct participation of crime victims in the criminal justice process appears to have the greatest beneficial effects. However, in Korea, the victim participation at these stages is poorly organized and uncertain in impact: victims' attendance at the court is mainly for the purpose of giving evidence as a witness; victims are often not told what, if anything, is happening in their cases; victims are often not asked what they would like to happen and are not asked for full information about the crime and its effects on them. In an attempt to remedy these defects, the Korean Government expressed the view that the Korean criminal justice system should take account of the effects of crimes on victims and therefore introduce mechanisms to enable the views of victims and information about the crime effects on them to become known to criminal justice decision makers: transmitting their views or information about the effects of the crime and the interests of the victim in a written or oral form on one hand; involving victims in judicial sentencing on the other hand. But these mechanisms have both advantages and disadvantages. In fact, victim participant may exercise undue pressure on the court; the procedure may not be in the public interest. In relation to this, it is pointed out that too much emphasize should not be placed on the interests of the victim because criminal justice has other significance, such as the requirements in clarifying the truth and the interests of offenders as well. Whether victim participation in the criminal justice process is on balance good or bad, and how the criminal justice system works in reality, depend on the objectives of the particular form of participation under consideration.