공익단체 구조조정법제의 개혁

Like profit-organizations, a public organization may achieve its purpose of foundation during its existence or face difficulty in achieving the purpose due to change of circumstances. In these situations, the organization has several options to choose. It may dissolve, or may continue to operate by amending its purpose or taking other restructuring procedures such as mergers or divisions. Therefore, it is important for charity law to provide well-prepared statutory mechanisms for these restructuring processes. However, the current mechanism for the procedures is not satisfactory. While the Korean Commercial Code provides very detailed provisions for amending articles of associations, and carrying out dissolutions, mergers and divisions for profit corporations, the Korean Public Organization Act has no statutory mechanism for mergers and divisions for public organizations. In contrast, the recently passed Korean Public Trusts Act has such provisions for public trusts. More detailed statutory provisions are necessary for public organizations to merge or divide efficiently. In addition, Cy près doctrine, an enshrined special principle to make public assets permanently remain in public sector, has to be applied more flexibly in order to dissolve public organizations for dealing with remaining assets with more discretion.