한중형법학술대회 20년 회고

Through an academic event held in China in 1996, I met Prof. Jin Kwang-jung, an elder of the Criminal Procedure Law, as an opportunity, and gradually formed friendships with the professors of Criminal Procedure Law in China. This led to a relationship with a Chinese criminal law professor. I had an exchange with Professor Cao Mingfian (高銘暄), who is called the father of Chinese criminal law, and Professor Marc Chang (马克昌) of Wuhan University. Professor Cao Mingfian served as the first president of the China Criminal Law Research Association, and immediately after his retirement, his disciple Professor Zhao Yingzhi succeeded him. As a result, naturally, the relationship with Chairman Zhao Pengzi was strong. This led to the decision of the Korea-China Criminal Law Research Society. Accordingly, the Korean Research Association for Comparative Criminal Law was held on December 18, 2002 in the seminar room on the 5th floor of Renmin University, Beijing, China to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the criminal law academia between the two countries, to reorganize the academic research on criminal law conducted in both countries, and to promote the theory of criminal law. An agreement on academic exchange of criminal law between Korea and China was signed with the Criminal Law Research Society. From January 6 to 8, 2004, it was held with great success at the Wuyi Hotel in Beijing, China. At that time, 10 people from the Korean side participated and presented, and from the Chinese side, many people who seemed to be more than 100 participated. Not only criminal scholars and criminal practitioners, but also doctoral students participated in the event, and there was a deep enthusiasm. As for the major topics to be dealt with each year, at first, after mutual proposals and mutual agreement between the two countries, a single major topic was selected, and then the sub-topics were subdivided into 10 sub-topics. But over time, it was difficult to ignore the special hints of China. This is because, in a situation where the principle of the rule of law did not take root sufficiently, China showed priority to topics that were urgently needed both academically and practically. As a result, the research topic could not be pursued gradually with consistency, and rather, it was decided on a case-by-case basis according to need, and repeated cases occurred. In order to solve this problem, it seems that the formation of an independent subcommittee is required in the Korean Research Association for Comparative Criminal Justice to maintain the consistency of research topics and avoid repetitive topics. As this year is August 2022, the Korean-Chinese Criminal Law Academic Event has already been 20 years. It is said that rivers and mountains change in 10 years, let alone 20 years, which brought many changes in the meantime. But there is one thing that hasn't changed. The point is that Korean criminal law has been a reference material to some extent helping China. This is unprecedented in academic history in Korea. We know that the Korean criminal law theory, which is sensitive to human rights and the rule of law principle, is difficult to apply directly in China. We also feel that it is difficult to easily accept China's criminal substance law and criminal law theory. However, it cannot be said that the activities of the Korean-Chinese academic events were not without practical benefit. First, I am proud that I have played a significant role in raising the international sense and theoretical precision to many domestic scholars. Second, out of 380 papers presented at academic events alone, Korean experts contributed to writing about 190 papers. Third, it is difficult for all studies to escape human relationships. The same goes for law. Because of my personal acquaintance, I was able to deepen my acquaintance with many professors at the Chinese Law University, which led to the opportunity to give lectures there. Fourth, I could read the will of China's criminal justice and criminal theory to be reborn as an advanced country that one day realizes the rule of law properly by witnessing the grafting of Korean criminal law theory, criminal statistics, and precedents. During the Deng Xiaoping era and for a considerable period thereafter, China also paid attention to human rights and the protection of personal information. Perhaps that is why, for example, in China, the abolition of the death penalty was not strong enough, and it is tentatively planned to gradually abolish it by 2050. However, as the regime of Si Jin-pyeong was prolonged, Korea's advanced legislative technology and practice methods were deeply interested in the promotion of social security or social safety in the technical aspect of the criminal law rather than the protection of human rights or personal legal interests.