소년사건에서의 신상공개와 보도금지

Prohibition of Publicity and Report in Juvenile Cases

Article 68 of the Juvenile Act stipulates the following : (1) Regarding protection cases or criminal cases under investigation or trial in accordance with this Act, facts or photographs which may identify the juvenile concerned in the above protection or criminal cases concerned, by means of their names, ages, occupations, appearance, and other things, shall neither be published in newspapers or other publications nor be broadcasted. (2) Persons under the following subparagraphs who have violated the provisions of paragraph (1) shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not more than one year or by a fine not exceeding ten million won: 1. Newspapers: Editors and publishers; 2. Other publications: Authors and publishers; and 3. Broadcasting: Editors and broadcasters. The main purpose of this article is to protect the honor and privacy of juveniles based on the juveniles development right and to ensure due process as well as to prevent recidivism. Prohibition of reporting on the personal information of juveniles may infringe another fundamental right such as freedom of expression and right to know. However, freedom of expression or right to know is a concept that has an inherent limit in relation to the protection of privacy, nor does it necessarily require the personal information in realizing the freedom of expression or the right to know. Therefore, it is reasonable to think that the personal information about the juveniles should be kept private in principle, and that the personal information can be disclosed only in exceptional cases where there is a great public benefit exceeding the basic rights of the juveniles. Considering this point, the recent publicity of information on the internet under the name of freedom of expression should not be allowed because it does not exceed the benefits such as protection of basic rights of the juveniles. In order to prevent new forms of infringement and to implement the purpose of Article 68 of the Juvenile Act, the act of disclosing personal information on the Internet should be prohibited. The act of disclosing personal information at the investigation stage should be subject to punishment as well.