행정형벌의 행정질서벌화 경향에 대한 소고

Discussion About Trend in Getting Administrative Penalty to Administrative Order Punishment -Focused on the Decriminalization Depunishment of Administrative Penalty-

행정상 의무이행확보수단의 기능을 수행하는 행정벌(行政罰)은 행정법규 위반에 대한 전형적인 제재수단으로서 행정형벌과 행정질서벌로 구분되고 있다. 행정형벌(行政刑罰)은 국가의 형벌권작용으로서 현행「형법」제41조에 규정되어 있는 형벌을 말하며, 우리나라의 개별 행정법규에서 규정하고 있는 행정형벌의 대다수가 바로 이에 해당한다. 반면, 행정질서벌(行政秩序罰)은 개별 행정법규에서 통상 과태료(過怠料)라는 명칭으로 특정의 행정목적을 위해 부과되는 행정벌이며, 처벌의 법적 근거를 '法令'을 포함하여 지방자치단체의 '條例'에서도 찾을 수 있다는 점에서 행정형벌과는 그 법적 성격을 달리한다. 최근 현대행정의 복잡화ㆍ다양화 등을 이유로 개별행정법규 정립에 행정형벌이 지나치게 활용됨으로써 이로 인한 여러 문제점이 노출되고 있다. 이에 대한 대안으로 행정형벌의 과잉입법을 지양하고, 행정질서벌(과태료)을 통한 수범자(受範者)의 의무이행확보수단 활용이 더욱 효과적이라는 주장이 제기되고 있다. 이와 같은 국가형벌권행사 및 행정상 의무이행확보수단으로 활용되고 있는 행정벌은 특히, 행정형벌의 비범죄화ㆍ비형벌화라는 형사정책의 변화와 시대적 사조에 발맞추어 변화된 행정상 의무이행확보수단으로서의 역할을 요구받고 있다.

An administrative punishment, which conducts the function of means to secure the executions of administrative obligations, is the typical sanction and classified into an administrative penalty and an administrative order punishment. The administrative penalty means a criminal penalty which is the operation of a state punishment power, as provided in the current Criminal Law article 41, to which a lot of administrative penalties as provided in any individual administrative regulations in Korea would be applied. On the other hand, the administrative order punishment is an administrative punishment imposed for a specific administrative purpose in the name of fine for default in any individual administrative regulations, and its characteristics are different from the administrative penalty in that the legal basis of the punishment can be founded even on the statute and the ordinance of a local government. While the administrative penalty is excessively exploited for the establishment of individual administrative regulations because of the complexificationㆍdiversification of modern public administration recently, its several problems have been shown. As an alternative against it, the excessive legislations of the administrative penalty shall be sublated and a claim, in which the exploitation of the means to secure the executions of obligation against a convicted person through the administrative order punishment (fine for default) is more effective, has been raised. Such administrative punishment, which is exploited as the means to exercise a state punishment power and to secure the executions of obligations, has been required as the role of the means to secure the executions of administrative obligations as altered in step with the change of a criminal policy and the trend of the times, specially such as the decriminalizationㆍdepunishment of administrative penalty.