Current Issue

Jong Cheol Kim | 2024, 7(2) | pp.0~0 | number of Cited : 0

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The role of the human rights movement in the Korean democratization movement: Historical construction of the concept of ‘human rights’ in the 1970s and 1980s

Lee, Jeong-Eun | 2024, 7(2) | pp.1~43 | number of Cited : 0

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The Refugee Rights Movement and Civil Society in South Korea (1999–2012)

Won Geun Choi

| 2024, 7(2) | pp.45~87 | number of Cited : 0

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Applying Judicial and Non-Judicial Approaches for Human Rights Accountability in North Korea

Patricia Goedde , ㆍSeryeon Song | 2024, 7(2) | pp.89~133 | number of Cited : 0

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Birth Registration Should Not Be Contingent Upon Nationality Acquisition: The Contradictions and Limitations of the “Korean Only” Family Relations Registration System

Kim, Jihye | 2024, 7(2) | pp.135~164 | number of Cited : 0

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The “Act on the Registration, etc., of Family Relations” (hereafter referred to as the “Family Relations Registration Act”) only applies to “nationals,” thereby excluding so-called “foreign children” from birth registration. This approach of determining a newborn’s eligibility for birth registration based on nationality status is fundamentally flawed. Birth registration is a process through which a child is recognized as a “person before the law,” while the acquisition of nationality is a step that grants membership in a particular nation to the legally recognized person. Therefore, birth registration should precede any determination of nationality. The current birth registration system, however, reveals contradictions and limitations by requiring that a child first qualify as a national, thereby making birth registration contingent on acquisition of nationality. Under the nationality system based on jus sanguinis, the Family Relations Registration System is designed to facilitate the tracing of bloodline heritage and conferring nationality on the children of registered nationals through birth registration. This design might work smoothly under the assumption that Korea is a nation solely reproduced through bloodline; however, as members with diverse nationalities emerge, the system inevitably reveals problems in situations where birth registration and nationality acquisition cannot occur simultaneously. In cases where both parents are foreigners, or in instances of extramarital births involving a foreign mother and a Korean father, as well as situations where there is a change in nationality after birth, people may face denial of birth registration, be subjected to discriminatory procedures, or find that their birth records are closed due to nationality status. This article asserts that the state has an obligation, under international human rights law and the Korean Constitution, to ensure that every child born within its territory has the right to be registered immediately after birth. It argues that birth registration must be guaranteed before and regardless of nationality determination and that the continuity, permanence, and universality of the birth registration system should be ensured. Based on the recently introduced birth notification system, which provides a procedural basis for birth registration for all children, including those born to foreign mothers, the article advocates for institutional improvements. It proposes that the Family Relations Registration Act be revised to incorporate nationality as a piece of information rather than a prerequisite, thereby ensuring that the right of children to birth registration is protected regardless of their own or parents’ nationality or immigration status, while accommodating the diversity and fluidity of nationality.

A Legal Review of Contemporary Industrial Accident Compensation and Worker Discrimination: Involving Commentaries on Constitutional Court Decision 2012Hun-Ga16 Decided September 26, 2013 and Constitutional Court Decision 2014Hun-Ba254 Decided September 29, 2016

Juneyoub Han | 2024, 7(2) | pp.165~216 | number of Cited : 0

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The recognition of human rights should not remain a mere speculative affair – for it is only reasonable that judicial, legislative, and administrative agencies seek channels to respect and guarantee universal rights. In the task of enforcing human rights within domestic realms, international human rights standards may certainly intertwine with domestic legal norms. The effort to understand the dynamics between universal standards and domestic law is, therefore, of theoretical and practical significance in today's growing interest in international human rights norms. This study attempts to capture the relationship between international standards of human rights and domestic law by conducting a legal review of modern industrial accident compensation and discriminatory treatment among workers. The right to receive compensation for industrial accidents aligns with the principle of the welfare state and basic rights, ensuring that workers maintain a basic standard of living. The UN and ILO also contributed to the expansion of workers' rights by establishing a series of international standards that recognize such compensations as human rights. However, the introduction of international standards into domestic rule of law has faced hardships, with two Constitutional Court decisions being rendered before guaranteeing compensation for commuting accidents under domestic law. The aim of deciphering the encounter between international norms and the legal interpretation of the Constitutional Court is a timely goal in reviewing the contemporary development of human rights. Specifically, this study first attempts to clearly outline the relationship between industrial accident compensation and workers’ human rights through historical analysis. Furthermore, this study offers a detailed analysis of UN and ILO standards on industrial accident compensation and discriminatory treatment by scrutinizing the contents of the ICESCR, ILO Social Security Convention No. 102, Employment Injury Benefits Convention No. 121, and Employment Injury Benefits Recommendation No. 121. In addition, this study examines the status of ratification of the standards laid out by the UN and ILO and proceeds to review Constitutional Court Decision 2012Hun-Ga16 and 2014Hun-Ba254. The two decisions, while rendered only three years apart, issued different judgments regarding the unconstitutionality of Article 37, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 1, Item Da of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act – which excluded lawful compensation for accidents resulting from “usual commuting methods.” This study reinterprets the decisions from the perspective of human rights by evaluating conflicting views on the purpose of industrial accident compensation insurance and the infringement of rights to equality. Finally, this study analyzes the revised legislation ratified after 2014Hu-Ba254 and its policy impact, giving attention to the continuation of legal conflicts to secure workers' rights. As such, this study – which comprehensively explores the international standards set by the UN and ILO and the legal interpretations arising from the Constitutional Court – aligns with contemporary human rights studies to investigate the interaction of international and domestic legal norms.

The limits of institutionalizing human rights on campus in the 2010s, focusing on the issue of sexual harassment and human rights violations

Yoo, Hyun Mi | 2024, 7(2) | pp.217~261 | number of Cited : 0

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Horizons and Prospects of Alternative Penalty after Death Penalty Abolition

Kim, Dae Keun | 2024, 7(2) | pp.263~302 | number of Cited : 0

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Recently, in the context of a penal state or a punitive society, the introduction of life sentences without parole, so-called absolute life sentences, is a hot issue. Usually, absolute life imprisonment has been discussed as a measure after the abolition of the death penalty, but the life sentence without parole recently announced by the Ministry of Justice exists at the same time as the death penalty. In addition, the life sentence without parole, which has been announced in legislation, is not a type of sentence (Article 41) in the Criminal Law, but rather a burden of judgment on judges by stipulating in the period of imprisonment or imprisonment (Article 42), and at the same time imposes a legislative act (law formation) rather than an interpretation of the law. In addition to conflicting with the principle of legality and separation of powers, there is a big problem in that it can even obscure the purpose of the current parole system. At this point, we need to look at the theoretical horizons of alternative punishments for the death penalty. Alternatives to punishment that are not depriving lives include absolute and relative life sentences, life imprisonment, and life imprisonment (with an upper limit on the period) depending on the degree of deprivation.Here, life imprisonment is divided into ‘absolute life imprisonment’ and ‘relative life imprisonment’, and the distinction between relative life imprisonment and life imprisonment is sometimes a problem. Relative life sentences are characterized by a long minimum period of service and exceptional parole compared to life sentences. The current life sentence is little different from the relative life sentence in operation in that parole is exceptional. A life sentence without parole violates the essential content of human dignity and freedom and rights, as established by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, the European Court of Human Rights, and the recent Supreme Court of Canada. The effectiveness of crime prevention cannot be verified, and correction management problems can be serious. Above all, there is no practical benefit to legislation in that it is possible to operate a life sentence without parole even under the current system. Then, what should be the form of a rational and systematic alternative punishment for the death penalty. Excluding freestyle, where the upper limit of the period is set in consideration of the public's legal sentiment, there are mainly life imprisonment sentences under the current Korean law or life imprisonment sentences that allow the possibility of parole to be examined with a minimum period of service. Some may consider compromising the relative life sentence (for existing death sentences) while using the current life sentence as a principle.

Change Starts with Everyone being a Subject

Yoon, Hyeonjeong | 2024, 7(2) | pp.303~310 | number of Cited : 0