“특정경제범죄가중처벌등에관한법률”상 횡령‧배임죄의 양형 관련 문제점 및 개선방안에 관한 연구

Many people believe that the criminal law can suppress economic crime. There is a discussion of the system is made capable of effectively suppressing the economic crimes. Attempt is made to punish the economic criminals more strongly than before. The reason is a very serious damage caused by economic crime. But there are differences between the demands and reality. The fact can be confirmed by sentencing for embezzlement and breach of trust offenders in the act of aggravated punishment for specific economic crimes. One important legislative purpose of the act is to punish large economic criminals strongly. None the less, sentenced punishment for crimes mentions above is lower than statutory punishment and the rate of suspended jail sentence seems fairly high. The cause of this mild punishment for economic crime can be seen as Sentencing Guidelines enforced by the Supreme Court. Sentencing Guidelines that are in force were originally based on sentencing statistics of the past, so that the sentencing range for embezzlement and breach of trust offenders is set low as a whole. Furthermore, factors to take into the consideration when giving a suspended jail sentence don't reflect the features of economic crime. As a way to resolve this sentencing problem, first, the sentencing range must be aggravated up to the level of statutory punishment. Next, setting the starting point is helpful to reduce sentencing disparities due to the widespread sentencing range. Lastly, the reasons for imposing a sentence must provided in a written judgement to secure objectivity and transparency of sentencing judgement.