Concept of Constitutional Rights

This article aims at defining what is constitutional right. In the area of constitutional law, it has not been clear what the constitutional right means, whereas there are many topics of the constitutional rights. In defining the concept of constitutional right, it is necessary to discriminate natural right and human right from the constitutional right. There are many constitutional rights which are not natural as the right of voting and access to a court. The term human right is used in many cases with conceptual ambiguity. The concept of human right is ambiguous, so it should be emphasized that constitutional right should be understood clearly separate from human right. I analysed the concept of constitutional right. The constitutional right has its elements in three dimension: individual right, positive right and constitutionguaranteed right. The constitutional right has individuality, claim, liberty, power and immunity as a individual right. The claim is an essential element of right, so having a right means having a claim. The people who have a constitutional right, can have a claim to something and against someone. The government has a duty to realize the constitutional right. The people who have a right, can assign or renounce the right, but the constitutional right can not be assigned or renounced with the exception of extraordinary cases. This right also has a immunity, so nobody can enforce an individual who has such a right to do something against the right in the area where the right is effective. The constitutional right is a positive right that is guaranteed by the positive constitution. This positivity makes the constitutional right to be distinguished from natural right and human right. The constitutional rights get the character of...이 연구는 서울대학교 발전기금 및 간접연구경비에서 지원된 연구비에 의해 수행됨

The Special Prosecutor Act of 1999 and Its Problems

I introduced the Special Prosecutor System of the U.S. and suggested my opinion that this system is very useful and effective in the democratization of Korea. The Special Prosecutor Act was enacted at the beginning of 1999. However, it was limited to investigating just two cases: political corruption involving the Chief prosecutor and a senior prosecutor's role in forcing a strike by a labor union. This Act lasted for only 6 months. The aim of this article is to review the problems of this Act and suggest some ideas for improving the effectiveness of the Special Prosecutor System in Korea. The Special Prosecutor System is helpful in solving conflicts of interest, keeping investigation and prosecution independent from political influence in prosecuting higher officers, controlling the exercise of power effectively and carrying out impeachment. The 1999 Special Prosecutor Act has several problems. The object of the investigation is limited to the above two cases. The special prosecutor is appointed by the President. The jurisdiction of the prosecutor is limited. The release of investigative process is prohibited. The investigation duration and transition is restricted to six months, which is not sufficient for the special prosecutor to be effective. Against the non-cooperation of the agency that coordinates and supports the investigation, the use of force is option. An ordinary prosecutor can participate in the special prosecutor's investigation. We need to discuss and solve the above problems. In my opinion, the American Special Prosecutor System will be useful in the development of the Korean system. My suggestions for solving these problems are based on a comparison with the U.S. system

Review on the 朝鮮建國憲法草案私稿

이 논문은 布施辰治의 ｢朝鮮建國憲法草案私稿｣를 발굴하여 그 내용을 소개하 고 분석한 것이다. 한국헌법사의 연구에서 1945년 해방 직후 새로운 독립국가를 건국하는데 필요했던 헌법제정을 놓고 전개되었던 헌법논의에 대한 조사와 연구 는 중요하다. 布施辰治는 일본이 조선을 식민통치하던 시기에 조선의 이익과 독 립을 위하여 적극 활동한 사람이다. 1945년 8월 제2차 세계대전이 일본의 항복 으로 종료되자 그는 ｢朝鮮建國憲法草案私稿｣를 그해 12월에 대외적으로 공개하 였다. 그는 ｢朝鮮建國憲法草案私稿｣를 발표하고 일본에 적용할 헌법에 관하여는 ｢憲法改正私案｣을 발표하였다. 그런데 흥미로운 것은 ｢朝鮮建國憲法草案私稿｣에 서는 대통령⋅부통령 직선의 혼합제정부형태를 취하고 ｢憲法改正私案｣에서는 국 민주권을 전제로 한 천황제를 취한 것 이외에는 국민의 권리와 의무, 의회제도, 사법제도 등에서 일본국과 조선에 적용할 내용이 모두 동일하다는 점이다. 그런 점에서 ｢朝鮮建國憲法草案私稿｣가 순전히 조선만을 위하여 구상한 것은 아니다. 이런 점에서 ｢朝鮮建國憲法草案私稿｣에 대해서는 그 구상의 과정, 구상에 참여한 사람, 布施辰治의 국가에 대한 평소의 생각, 헌법관, 의회제도와 사법제도에 대한 布施辰治의 사상과 구상 등에 대하여 더 깊이 추적할 필요가 있다. 그리고 ｢朝 鮮建國憲法草案私稿｣가 조선의 해방 정국에 어떤 영향을 주었는지, 더 나아가 1948년 헌법제정과정에 布施辰治의 구상이 어떤 영향을 주었는지 등에 대하여 추가적인 연구가 필요하다.이 논문은 서울대학교 법학발전재단 출연 법학연구소 기금의 2010학년도 학술연구비 지원을 받았음

The Character of 1948 National Assembly in Korean Constitutional History

This article aims at reviewing the character of the 1948 National Assembly which made the first Korean Constitution. After the liberation from Japanese colonial ruling, US Military Government began to rule South Korea on September 11, 1945. During the US Military Government period, South Korea tried to build a new sovereign nation. As the first step, the National Assembly, which should make a constitution to build a nation, was composed of members elected by universal, equal, direct ballot. This election was carried out on May 10, 1948. The National Assembly began to work for making a constitution. It elected 30 members for drafting a constitution on June 1, 1948. The members of the National Assembly deliberated and debated on the Draft from June 23. They passed a vote of the Draft on July 12. The president of National Assembly promulgated the first Constitution on July 17. The article 102 of this Constitution prescribed that the National Assembly should be converted to a legislative body. It was usually said that the 1948 National Assembly had double characters as a constituent assembly and a legislative body during its all period. However, my opinion is this like understanding is not correct. In this article, I make the new suggestion that the 1948 National Assembly had the character of a constituent assembly from May 31 to July 17 and the character of a legislative body after July 17, 1948. I made a comparison between Korea and US in a constitution-making to clear up this point.이 논문은 2002년도 학술진흥재단의 지원에 의하여 연구되었다. (KRF-2002-073-BM1020

Korean Presidentialism and Its Sustainability

본 연구는 대한민국 현행 헌법이 채택하고 있는 대통령제정부가 미래에도 한국에서 지속가능한 것인지에 대하여 검토해보는 것을 목적으로 한다. 1990년대에 민주화가 이루어지고 인권이 신장되었으며 정부가 네 차례나 바뀌었음에도 불구하고, 한국은 여전히 다양한 정치적․사회적 문제를 갖고 있다. 정당정치가 실패하고 대의민주주의가 성공하지 못하고 있다. 사회의 갈등은 더욱 심각해지고 국가는 이를 해결하지 못해내고 있다. 정치민주화 이후 한국 사회가 발전적인 경로를 따라 순조롭게 이행하지 못하고, 사회 갈등과 분열, 대통령1인과 집권세력에 의한 국정의 독단적 운영, 지역주의에 의한 국정운영에서의 파행과 정치제도의 왜곡, 지역주의에 의한 자원배분의 왜곡에 따른 지역과 사회구성원간의 갈등, 집권세력들에 의한 부정과 부패의 반복, 국가운영에서의 리스크의 증대, 승자독식의 구조와 문화의 심화 등을 초래한 것에는 대통령제정부를 유지하고 있는 것에 가장 큰 원인이 있다고 본다. 본 연구는 대통령제정부가 안고 있는 제도내재적인 문제점과 한국 사회에서 대통령제정부가 작용함에 있어 초래하거나 심화시킨 여러 가지 문제점을 지적하였다. 이러한 문제점은 정치인들의 개인적 수준에서의 반성이나 입법을 통해 해결할 수 있는 수준의 것이 아니다. 한국이 보다 성숙한 민주주의사회로 나아가고 국정운영이 정상화되고, 국정운영의 리스크와 사회의 비용을 줄이는 방안으로는 대통령제정부형태를 폐지하고, 사회 구성원의 공존을 가능하게 하고 위의 폐단을 줄일 수 있는 길을 모색하는 것이 필요하다. 혼합제정부 또는 의회주의제정부로의 변경이 그 대안이 될 수 있을 것이다. 이 연구는 한국에서 대통령제정부는 국가운영과 사회 발전에 있어 효용성을 유지하기 어려우며 지속가능성도 낮다고 제시한다. This article explores the validity and sustainability of the presidential government that is adopted by the current Korean Constitution. Despite the democratization in politics and human rights in 1990s and the change of government for four times, Korea still holds various social and political problems. These are the consequence of the following issues: the Korean societys incapability of carrying out democratic development, conflicts within the society, the arbitrary operation of the government by a president and his presidential administration, the failure of countrys affairs due to Korean regionalism/localism regarding distribution of resources and communication among citizens, distortion of civil service system, the winner-takes-all social ideal and others. Furthermore, Koreas authoritarian tendency embedded within its political sphere and frequent corruptions and embezzlement done by a president and politicians also restrain the development of true democratic society. This article proves that these reasons significantly contribute the practicality of Koreas current presidential government. However, these problems can be solved neither by the individual-level apologies of politicians nor through legislation that Korea should repeal its presidential government and seek to find a proper and practical form of a government that can encompasses its unique political, social and cultural properties. The possible forms could be something similar to the semi-presidentialism or the parliamentarism. This article concludes that the current Korean presidentialism is difficult to remain valid for the administration and social development of Korea in the near future and therefore, its sustainability is questionable.이 연구는 서울대학교 인문․사회계열 해외연수 지원금으로 연구되었음

The Democratization of South Korea and the Contribution of the Constitutional Court: 1988-1998

The Constitutional Court of Korea began its operation from 1988. The Court is an important working mechanism of the 1987 Constitution, which itself is the symbol of the people's victory against the authoritarian regime. From its inception the Court had to face the almost antagonistically unsympathetic attitudes of the judiciary and the prosecution. However, the Court has successfully overcome the hurdles to play an important role during the transition period to the full democracy. This article aims at legally evaluating the degree of the Constitutional Court's contribution in the realization of people's constitutional rights for the first decade of its operation(1988-1998). To achieve this goal, the decisions of the Court have been analysed with focuses on the problematic issues as habeas corpus, the rights in the criminal procedure, the rights of expression, the labor rights, and the right to know. Generally speaking, the Court' attitude has been active to expand the traditional span of liberties, the rights of the prisoner and the right to know, as contrasted with the cases involving the labours' rights. In conclusion, this article shows that the contribution of Constitutional Court as the guardian of the human rights, although fall short of the high public expectation, has been significant by legal standards. The spirit of judicial activism persistent within the Court since its inception has played as an important factor in its successful working

Origin of Korean Prime Minister System

Throughout Korean constitutional history, the status and power of Prime Minister(國務總理) are unique comparing with other presidential governments. The concept of Prime Minister was first adopted in the Constitution of 1948 and sustained in each revised Constitution from 1952 to 1987. The basic structure of this system is as follows: 1. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President with or without the consent of the National Assembly. 2. The Prime Minister assists the President. 3. The Prime Minister directs the Ministries of the Executive Branch under order of the President. 4. The State Council deliberates on important policies that fall within the power of the Executive. This Council is composed of the President, the Prime Minister, and other members. The other members of this Council are appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. 5. The President shall be the Chairman of the State Council, and the Prime Minister shall be the Vice-Chairman. 6. The Prime Minister may issue ordinances of his/her own concerning with matters that are within his/her jurisdiction under the powers delegated by Act or Presidential Decree or ex officio. 7. If the office of President is vacant or the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties for any reason, the Prime Minister first acts for him/her.이 논문은 2002년도 학술진흥재단의 지원에 의하여 연구되었다(KRF-2002-073-BM1020)

Power of the Constitutional Court in Impeachment

헌법재판소는 2004년 5월 14일 ｢2004헌나1｣의 탄핵심판사건(主審: 재판관 周善會)에서 우리 헌정사상 처음으로 대통령에 대한 탄핵심판을 하였다. 노무현정부의 출범이후 1년 반 정도 동안 일어난 노무현대통령의 대외적인 의사표시와 행동이 우리 사회에 많은 갈등을 야기시키면서 노무현대통령에 대한 지지와 반대는 대통령선거 당시보다 더욱 심하게 대립적이고 전투적으로 되었는데, 그러한 상황에서 국회는 대통령에 대하여 탄핵소추를 하기에 이르렀다. 이러한 과정에는 대통령선거 당시 노무현후보자가 소속했던 민주당에서 노무현대통령을 지지하는 세력들이 탈당하여 새로 열린우리당을 창당하는 등 정치적인 소용돌이도 있었다. 본시 대통령제에서 의회가 대통령에 대하여 탄핵소추를 할 정도로 의회와 대통령이 갈등을 빚으면 정치권에서 대통령의 위법행위를 어떻게 처리할 것인지에 관하여 해결점을 찾고 정치력을 발휘하여 이 문제를 먼저 다루게 된다. 대통령의 위법행위가 있다는 것만으로 바로 헌법재판소에 탄핵소추를 하는 것은 정치력의 상실을 의미하고, 재판기관인 헌법재판소에 엄청난 부담을 지우는 것이 된다. 따라서 탄핵심판에는 헌법재판소의 결정이 어떻게 나든지 간에 이 문제를 정치적으로 해결하지 못한 부담은 정치권이 공통적으로 질 수밖에 없는 점이 있다. 정치권이 이 문제를 다루지 못하고 헌법재판소에 심판을 청구한 후 헌법재판소의 결정이 자기들의 정치적 이해관계와 합치하는가에 따라 헌법재판소의 결정을 비난하거나 지지하는 것은 온당하지 않다.이 글은 서울대학교 법학발전재단 출연 법학연구소 기금의 2005학년도 연구지원비의 보조를 받았음

Protection of Cultural Heritage and Legislative Suggestion for Preservation of Old City

There is not a systematic law to protect historical cultural old cities in Korea. This article aims at designing the legal system of Old City preservation and suggesting legislative frame. First, I analysed the concept of cultural right and government's obligation in protecting cultural heritage. In discussion about the concept of cultural right, there are many ideas from the aspect of international human right than that of constitutional right. Wheres many different opinions were suggested around the concept of cultural right, it has been still ambiguous and not clear what the cultural right means. In this article, I sketched various academic opinions about the cultural right and tried to get the government's obligation to protect cultural heritage from the article 9 of Korean Constitution. The article imposes the government to protect the cultural heritage. In Japanese, the first law to preserve historical old cities was made in 1966. In designing the legal preservation of old cities, Japanese legal system and its development looks much helpful for us. I introduced Japanese legal system of Old City preservation and suggested my ideas. I suggested that the current Korean cultural property protection law is not sufficient to preserve the historical old cities and special legislation is necessary. In making the policy of old cities protection, it is necessary to approach the protection of old cities as a face not a point. To preserve a city as the old city, the government should determine a certain historical city as a preservation area. In case that a combination of historical area and natural scenery creates undivided cultural value, it is necessary to determine the whole areas as the..