국민참여재판의 시행상황 분석과 나아갈 방향

The Analysis of and Developmental Suggestions for the Citizen Participatory Trial

In Korea, a sweeping change to the Korean criminal judicial system began through the foundation of "the Supreme Court`s Judiciary Reform Committee" in 2003. One of the accomplishments, achieved by the Judicial Reform Plan, was the enactment of "the Act on Citizen Participation of Criminal Trials". Based on the Act, Korea launched the Citizen Participatory Trial(hereinafter the Citizen Trial) as a pilot project and lay people began to participate in criminal trials for the first time in Korean history. This article aims to analyze cases of the Citizen Trial and to suggest some reform measures. PartⅠoutlines the Citizen Trial, especially focusing on legal aspects. Analyzing the cases of the Citizen Trial, Part Ⅱ describes the reality of the Citizen Trial implemented for three years(2008～2010). Part Ⅲ concerns the main disputes and discusses some reform issues on the Citizen Trial. Based on the discussion, to improve the Citizen Trial, some reform measures are suggested in the last part.