경자유전의 원칙과 농지임대차

Land to the tillers principle refers to the principle that only farmers can own farmland. Article 121 (1) of the Constitution states, “The State shall endeavor to realize the land-to-the-tillers principle with respect to agricultural land. Tenant farming shall be prohibited.” It clearly states land-to-the-tillers principle and prohibits the tenancy system. Article 6 (1) of the Farmland Act specifies this by stating, “Farmland shall be owned only by a person who uses or will use it for his/her own agricultural management.” On the one hand, Article 121 (2) of the Constitution states that “The leasing of agricultural land and the consignment management of agricultural land to increase agricultural productivity and to ensure the rational utilization of agricultural land or due to unavoidable circumstances, shall be recognized under the conditions as prescribed by Act.” In order to “increase agricultural productivity” and “rational utilization of agricultural land,” limited lease and consignment management of farmland are permitted. However, due to the aging of rural areas, changes in agricultural structure, population decline, increase in leased farmland, and increase in part-time farms, the significance of Paragraph 2 is currently greater than the land-to-the-tillers principle. However, the land-to-the-tillers principle is fundamentally related to the prohibition of tenant farming. The perfect ideal of prohibition of tenant farming is the land-to-the-tillers principle. This can be seen from the fact that our Constitution has continuously stipulated the prohibition of tenancy, but the land-to-the-tillers principle was first introduced as a state duty of effort in the 1987 Constitution. In modern times, it is virtually impossible to enforce the land-to-the-tillers principle due to changes in the agricultural environment. However, the purpose of prohibiting tenancy can be achieved not only through the observance of the land-to-the-tillers principle, but also through the Farmland Act or the farmland lease system. To this end, a strict management system for farmland should be established under the Farmland Act and a reasonable farmland lease system should be established and supplemented. This would be an agricultural land system that conforms to the enhancement of agricultural productivity and rational use of farmland stipulated in Article 121 (2) of the Constitution.