디지털 정보접근권 실현을 위한 법적 과제

The right to access to information in the digital envorionment is both a substantial right and a prerequisite for enjoying other freedoms and rights. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which clarifying the right to access to information in the digital envorionment for the first time among the universal human rights norms considers this right as a general principle. The EU law and the US law apporach to the right to access to information in the digital envorionment from the perspective of non-discrimination. In particular, the global legal trend requires that the right to access to information in the digital envorionment be guaranteed not only in the public domain but also in the private domain due to the nature of information and communication technology and services. Korean legislation regarding to the right to access to information in the digital envorionment has several problems. First, provisions concerned with the right to access to information in the digital envorionment is scattered in various laws and, therefore, it is difficult to systematically and fully guaranttee the right to access to information in the digital envorionment. Second, the regulations regarding the right are too vague and overlanpping and not legally binding. Third, the requirements of the right are not applied to the private sector and out of date and lack means to secure the effective implementation. Therefore, this paper proposes to enact an individual law for the right to access to information in the digital envorionment, which is jointly executed by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The new law should provide detailed requirements of the right that can be commonly applied to the public and private sectors, and also include measures to gradually expand its application or set exceptions so as not to impede the development of related technologies and industries.