과거 북한의 체제범죄의 사법 청산과 헌법적 한계

This study aims to identify optimal legal measures to strictly realize "temporal justice" for settling the past by defining the large-scale systemic illegalities and human rights violations committed by the North Korean regime, which will become a historical phenomenon under the constitutional system of the Republic of Korea after unification, as "crimes destroying the constitutional order" under current law. This approach overcomes constitutional limitations, such as the prohibition of retroactive legislation and the non-retroactivity of criminal punishment, and examines possible solutions to overcome the limitations of the prohibition of retroactive legislation and the statute of limitations. Specifically, this study examines the legal solutions to the illegalities of the former East German regime in unified Germany, the Nazi regime, and the judicial process of liquidating the Khmer Rouge, the communist dictatorship in Cambodia. As concrete legal and practical solutions, this study examines the potential alternatives to "crimes destroying the constitutional order" regarding retroactive legislation and the statute of limitations, and explores approaches to addressing their limitations. The significance of this study lies first in its clear definition of the North Korean regime as a "crime of subversion of constitutional order" attempting to overthrow and destroy the liberal democratic constitutional order. It examines follow-up measures regarding the statute of limitations as a concrete measure for judicial condemnation and a reckoning with the past. This approach seeks to achieve an optimal balance of temporal justice within the framework of fundamental constitutional principles such as the prohibition of retroactive legislation and the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal punishment. In summary, the goal of this study is to fully restore the constitutional values ​​of "freedom, democracy, and the rule of law" that a unified Korea should strive for, while laying the foundation for the resolution of the North Korean regime's illegalities and for reconciliation and community healing. Through this, it has been confirmed that a unified Korea can move forward as a truly unified Korean nation capable of realizing the constitutional ideal. Finally, the results of this study suggest that the current legal basis for crimes against the constitutional order will still exist for North Korea's systemic illegalities, even after the transition to a unified Korea. Therefore, legislative adjustments to the statute of limitations based on this basis could provide a basis for judicial resolution and conviction. This will contribute to creating the possibility for judicial resolution in a unified Korea.