현행 환경형법체계의 분석 및 형법전상 환경범죄의 신설 필요성에 관한 비교법적 검토

This study investigates the structural limitations of Korea’s current environmental criminal law system and the necessity of introducing environmental crimes into the Criminal Code in response to the climate crisis. At present, environmental criminal law in Korea consists of scattered punitive provisions under individual administrative laws, the Environmental Crime Control Act, and a few limited provisions in the Criminal Code. Such a fragmented framework suffers from vagueness in protected legal interests, overlapping and complex regulatory scopes, and a lack of systematic standards for criminal liability, thereby weakening the effectiveness of environmental criminal policy. Drawing on comparative analysis, this paper examines Germany, which codifies environmental crimes in Chapter 29 of its Criminal Code; China, which has incorporated environmental crimes into its Criminal Code for greater coherence and preventive effect; and Switzerland, which regulates environmental crimes mainly under the Environmental Protection Act alongside limited provisions in its Criminal Code. Based on these models, the study argues for the creation of an independent chapter on environmental crimes within the Korean Criminal Code. This would reinforce systematic consistency, enhance public awareness of environmental protection, and align Korea with international standards. Finally, the paper distinguishes between pollution crimes and destruction crimes, and proposes legislative directions grounded in the dual theory of legal interests (ecological and human-centered). By reassessing prior legislative proposals, including the 1992 government draft, and suggesting reforms, the study provides both theoretical and practical foundations for establishing environmental crimes as an independent category within the broader reform of the Korean Criminal Code.