‘국민의 형사재판 참여에 관한 법률’의 개정 논의와 주요 쟁점에 관한 고찰

Following the five years’ initial trial of the jury trial system to be established, the finalised draft of the system was announced on December 2013, which was amended in consideration of the specific Korean context. The final draft includes; verdict system of three quarters of qualified majority, de facto binding force of verdict, exclusion of “cases which pertain to collegiate panel of district court”, admission of prosecutor’s right to application for jury trial and for excluding jury trial, abolition of 5-jurors system, decrease of the minimum age (19 years old, currently) for a juror, and addition of main arguments of prosecutor to judge’s explanation before jury trial. The Korean jury trial system has encountered a number of issues to further address and there are, also, a variety of suggestions for each issue, in relation to the intent of the introduction of the jury trial system, the capacity of the current criminal justice system, smoothness of legal procedures, constitutional right to be tried by judges, and whether to admit the jury system to cases involved with election and the politics. Lastly, it is expected to re-establish the jury trial system which is reasonable and appropriate for the reality of legal context in Korea through profound reflections on the original purpose of the system and considerations for opinions from different groups of people.