법적 판단력 개념 정립을 위한 이론적 탐색: 판단 영역과 인지 과정을 중심으로

Recent decline in public trust in the legal and judicial system and the rise of emotionally driven criticism of legal decisions highlight the growing importance of citizens’ ability to make independent and reflective judgments about law and justice. In response to this social shift, this study aims to conceptualize legal judgment competence as a key educational capacity that enables individuals to engage in reflective reasoning and construct justifiable grounds for their legal evaluations of public issues. Legal judgment competence is conceptualized as a complex cognitive capacity formed through the interaction between judgment content—namely, moral values and social norms—and judgment processes, such as intuitive and analytical reasoning. Positioned as a cognitive extension of the broader concept of legal consciousness, legal judgment competence is distinguished from related concepts such as moral judgment, human rights reasoning, and professional legal decision-making. Through this theoretical comparison, the study establishes the conceptual independence of legal judgment competence. Furthermore, the study classifies learners’ legal judgment behaviors into four types based on how they perceive legal situations and proposes corresponding pedagogical approaches. These findings suggest that legal judgment competence should be understood not as the ability to conform to legal norms, but as a process-oriented civic capacity to construct and justify judgments. Ultimately, this study positions legal judgment competence as a foundational concept in law-related education and a core competency for fostering critical and participatory citizenship.