아동학대에 대한 대응시스템의 문제점과 전문법원제도의 도입방안

Reaction System against Child Abuse and Reform towards Integrated Process and Specialized Court System

This article reviews the justice system that responds to child abuse and neglect crimes. The most serious problem is that the current system is a fragmented system. It has not been conceptualized as a whole or put into practice by a common set of statutes. Victim protection services are implemented by welfare service agencies; parental rights of the criminal can only be restricted by a decision of civil court; and the criminal is punished through the criminal process by criminal court. Many of the agencies that handle the child abuse cases and victim protection services are working independently, and not designed primarily with child abuse victims in mind. Based on the idea of community justice, the main theme of the author is that the justice system that handle the child abuse cases should function as a complex set of agencies and institutions that include police, prosecutors, civil and criminal court, and child protection agencies. An important goal of the justice system against child maltreatment is to prevent future maltreatment of the children and to ensure the children's safety. To meet this goal, the justice system ought to offer proper services, preventive or remedial, and to facilitate the delivery of needed services. Therefore, this article suggests 1) that the specialized courts that have the exclusive jurisdiction over the child abuse cases should be established, 2) that those courts manage the whole process including child victim protection services and penalties to the criminal, and 3) that the 'child victim protection order' for the integrated protection services should be urgently introduced.