공정거래법상 과징금을 활용한 피해구제기금의 쟁점

It is a general principle that victims of violations of the Korean competition law and similar laws seek remedies through the court system. However, due to the inherent difficulties of civil litigation, victims often fail to get adequate relief in practice. To address these issues, I first proposed a fund using the administrative surcharges at the 30th anniversary academic conference of the Korean Competition Law in 2011. Following this proposal, various initiatives such as Consumer Rights Fund and a relief fund for damages caused by unfair trade practices have been discussed in political circles, but none have been implemented to date. Nevertheless, the discussion around the damages relief fund financed by administrative surcharges continues, especially with the new government recently proposing the establishment of such a fund. Internationally, there are examples such as the Fair Fund, the Consumer Financial Civil Penalty Fund, and the Superfund, where (i) public funds are created from monetary penalties and used to directly compensate victims financially, or (ii) the funds contribute indirectly to victim relief through non-monetary means. These cases offer meaningful lessons for Korea, particularly in the following aspects: (i) professional regulatory agencies manage the public funds, and (ii) victims get direct monetary compensation. In contrast, although Korea has seen multiple legislative proposals on this matter, none have been enacted into law. Allocating the disgorgement from administrative surcharges into a fund that directly compensates victims is essential in the interest of justice, the nature of administrative surcharges, the purpose of the system, the judicial system, and constitutional principles. Accordingly, the Korea Fair Trade Commission should establish a damages relief fund using administrative surcharges and ensure that victims, including small and medium-sized enterprises and consumers, get monetary compensation through this mechanism. Meanwhile, it is necessary to ensure transparency and neutrality in the operation and management of the damages relief fund and to conduct thorough follow-up supervision to prevent the fund from being used for the benefit of specific organizations or groups. For this purpose, any new legislative initiative should incorporate the following elements: (i) a clear provision for direct monetary compensation to victims, (ii) a determination of the proportion of administrative surcharges to be allocated to the fund, up to 50%, (iii) consideration of concerns regarding double compensation, and (iv) legal grounds for oversight and management of the fund.