『학교폭력의예방및대책에관한법률』에 대한 비판적 검토 - 학교폭력대책자치위원회를 중심으로 -

Juvenile Justice Law of Korea handles crimes committed by minors. The court cannot impose death penalty and imprisonment for life on minors who were under 18 when committing the crimes. Furthermore, as a principle, all the imprisonment sentences must be indeterminate so the convicts can be released after serving the minimum sentence. All these measures are designed in consideration of the offender’s age. However, the Juvenile Justice Law is not indifferent in defending the victim’s rights. Victims are fully covered under the Law and guaranteed equal right regarding compensation and other protective measures. Moreover, the Law aims at recovery of respect of law. Any act against the Law will be defined as crime and treated as such. Any criminal assault will be booked as crime in the Police record regardless of whether it is minor’s act or that of an adult. In short, under the Juvenile Justice Law, victim’s rights and respect of law will never be ignored as is the case in the Criminal Law. It is not true in applying the Law of Prevention and Treatment of School Violence. School violence is not a crime even though the offending act satisfies all the legal elements of crime. Therefore, the police cannot charge the offender criminally. The matter will be handled by a school commission consisting of teachers and parents of students. Under this system, school violence will be treated as minor delinquency rather than a crime.