미국 증거개시에서의 재판공개와 비밀보호에 대한 소고

U.S. Discovery set forth in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides fair and full trial by ensuring litigants to request the submission of information that is relevant to claims and defenses, which would lead to accurate law application. Discovery also promotes Access to Justice in that it overcomes information asymmetry existing between litigants, empowering the negotiation position of the weak party. As a central part of U.S. civil litigation, discovery has been one of the interesting subjects for researchers and practitioners. The broad discovery demands to submit any information which is relevant to the case, even if it contains confidential information, including privacy. The submitted information for discovery may be accessed, circulated, and even published without the protective orders of the court or the confidential discovery agreements between parties. Protective orders are the main device to protect confidential information under the principle of trial publicity. A comparative law study has its limitations for the differences of the legal system, constitutional protection, and civil procedure. Nonetheless, the research on U.S. discovery would implicate the balance of publicity and confidentiality of trial to Korean civil procedure for its introduction of presuit evidence-taking proceedings, which are inspired by U.S. discovery.