절차보조인 제도의 도입 필요성 및 운영방안

The amendment to the Law on Family Litigation, which was proposed to the National Assembly in 2018 includes clauses for due process, including recognizing minors' legal capacity to litigate and strengthening hearing of statements. In order to make these clauses viable, support systems should be combined. Thus, Article 16 of the amendment has introduced a procedural assistant system to understand the intentions of minor children and assist in litigation. The procedural assistant in the amendment may be appointed at the discretion of the judge if necessary for the welfare of minor children, and will support minor children throughout the trial process, including presenting their opinions to the court about benefits of minor children. Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees the right of the child to be heard, and in order for the right of participation of minor children to be substantially guaranteed, a system is required to supplement the deficiencies of minor children. In this regard, the role of a procedural assistant should not be limited to representing a child in court proceedings, but to perform duties for the welfare of a child in an independent position, such as the procedural assistance system in Germany or an Australian child's independent lawyer system. It will also have to provide broad support throughout the trial process, like the victim’s lawyer in criminal procedure. Under the current law, it is inevitable to use the pleading assistant system of Civil Procedure, but this system is not enough. it is necessary to introduce a procedural assistant system, which is a procedural supplement that can support minors in the entire legal process. When it comes to operation, the system will have to be able to actually operate on the site, and it will be important to lay the foundation for the system at the beginning of the introduction of the system.