동물원 및 수족관 관리제도 도입에 관한 소고 - 「동물원 및 수족관의 관리에 관한 법률」의 제정에 부쳐 -

In the absence of independent law or regulation governing the management of zoos and aquariums, there have been many incidents which might have been prevented had a proper legislation been in place, such as incidents where a predatory animal attacked a zookeeper and where a bankrupt zoo neglected the animals therein. Against this backdrop, some members of the National Assembly of Korea (i.e., Jung-Ae Han, Ha-Na Chang, and Chang-Young Yang) proposed a legislation concerning zoos and, after a series of discussions and debates, the ‘Act on Management of Zoos and Aquariums’ was enacted on May 29, 2016. The enactment of the Act has an important meaning as, for the first time in Korea, it introduces a management scheme for zoos and aquariums which have not been properly supervised from the perspective of laws. However, it should be noted that how it ends up being applied may greatly vary depending on the contents of the Enforcement Decree of the Act (the “Enforcement Decree”), such as the scope of the zoos and aquariums subject to registration, and that the possibility of amendment is not low considering the fact that the proposed legislation had been simplified by removing several systems initially included in the initial proposal and the necessity of amendment has been raised from the date of the enactment. In this regard, this study aims (i) to explore the legal issues in relation to the Act which will be enforced as of May 30, 2017, (ii) to present advisable interpretation of the Act in consideration of the legislative history and intent; and (iii) to propose issues and items which should be considered in establishing the Enforcement Decree. Further, this study also explores the discussions suggesting the necessity of amendment and presents the legislative opinions with respect to the advisable direction of the amendment discourse. Lastly, this study proposes an option to require a person operating zoo or aquarium businesses to purchase insurance or join an industry association as administrative countermeasures against unhealthy operation or closure of zoos and aquariums to prevent careless business operation which may result in neglecting the animals.