국제사법에 대한 헌법의 영향

In the past, as is shown in the old Korean Private International Law Act (“KPILA”) which had exclusively contained choice of law rules, private international law was perceived mainly as a branch of law determining the governing law. While the interaction between the Constitution and the old KPILA was barely known, the foreign law designated by the old KPILA could be disapplied if the result of such application was deemed contrary to Korean public policy and in judging whether there was such violation of the public policy, it was understood that the Constitution was relevant as the norm reflecting the fundamental principles of Korean law. In the meantime, in accordance with the taking effect of the current KPILA in July 2001, all of the provisions of the old KPILA giving priority to the law of the father and the husband over the law of the mother and the wife respectively in matters of family law were replaced by the connecting principle in accordance with the gender equality principle. In addition, the Supreme Court’s 2012 decision regarding the case on forced slave labor has clearly recognized the role of the Constitution, in that it refused to recognize the Japanese judgments which were declared to be against the core values of the Korean Constitution due to their violation of public policy. Especially in recent years, the awareness of the importance of fundamental rights and human rights under the Constitution in the context of private international law has spread very widely. Therefore, it is now necessary to examine in a more systematic manner the interaction between private international law in its broad sense (i.e., international jurisdictions, designation of governing law and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments), and the Constitution (especially the Constitution as a norm dealing with fundamental rights).* Professor, School of Law, Seoul National University But even so, the Constitution only determines the broad boundaries binding the legislator and the judge in the context of international jurisdiction and governing law, and the crucial provisions are the ones adopted by the legislator on international jurisdiction and governing law in consideration of various elements of private international law and governing law. Nonetheless, in determining the public policy of Korea in terms of applicable law and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, the value of the Constitution (in particular the fundamental rights) has a more specific meaning as it provides a basis for judging Korea’s fundamental legal principles in individual cases. The specific order of discussion is as follows: first, international jurisdiction and the Constitution (Chapter Ⅱ); second, designation of the governing law and the Constitution (Chapter Ⅲ); third, recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and the Constitution (Chapter Ⅳ); fourth, legal relationships between residents of South Korea and those of North Korea and the Constitution (Chapter Ⅴ), and finally, a brief mention of the human rights issues in the context of private international law which are becoming increasingly important in recent years (Chapter Ⅵ).