제조물책임법의 문제점과 개선방안에 관한 연구

The quantity of consumer damage caused by product defects has been increasing as production and distribution processes become more complicated, resulting in insufficient product knowledge and information provided to consumers. The Korean government has legislated and enforced the Product Liability Act for the protection of consumer rights and interests. There is growing public opinion that the current Product Liability Act should be improved in terms of product range, main agent of burden of proof, and the responsibility exemption scope of the manufacturer, in spite of its positive influence on consumer protection. To find solutions for these issues, an improvement plan has been decided upon, based on survey results of foreign legislation cases. One major issue with the amendment of the Product Liability Act is what kind of product is subject to product responsibility charges, as mentioned above. The Effectiveness of rights protection for victims should be secured in terms of the interpretation of product range, and there is a view that the meaning of 'manufactured and processed movables' in the Product Liability Act should be interpreted more widely in Civil Law than personal properties, for the development of the national economy. Similarly to German law, the Korean government should include unprocessed agricultural and livestock products, and houses provided en masse in the product range through an Amendment of the Product Liability Act. As existing data or hardware may be damaged or lost during manufacturing and processing because of defects in software, product responsibility must be borne by the software, considering it an intangible and manageable movable when manufactured and supplied in large numbers. New kinds of goods have been generated in modern society as a result of rapid developments in science and technology and further damages have been incurred because of defects in such goods. According to the current situation, transfer to general or abstract legislation is preferable, including new kinds of products instead of relying on a limited enumeration system suggesting products one by one. When a manufacturer proves that defects are not detectable with current science and technology as of the product-manufacturing date, liability for damages is exempted. If protest for development risk is easily recognized, the meaning of liability without fault decreases, and a manufacturer may prolong a lawsuit or consider it a refuge to avoid liability for damages. Protest for development risk should be recognized only with objective reasons to prevent the abuse of side effects. Although the Product Liability Act recognizes liability without fault, a victim should prove the defects, damages, and causal relationship between them. However, it may be difficult for victims who have no professional knowledge or are in an unfavorable social or economic position to prove such. Therefore, it is necessary to legislate laws reducing the victim's burden of proof for easier victim's rights protection.