Empty Promises Repeated Over Rape Prevention
By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter
The governing party called for a prompt passage of a bill, Tuesday, which would allow retroactive punishment for pedophiles with a criminal record.
The move came amid public anger over the country's lenient punishment for sex crimes, and follows the instigation of a nationwide manhunt for a suspect in the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl in Busan.
However, whether such a measure can be enforced remains up in the air since many lawyers point out that retroactive punishment violates the Constitution.
"We should revise the Electronic Anklet Law to retroactively apply it," said Rep. Ahn Sang-soo, floor leader of the Grand National Party (GNP). "We urge the National Assembly to hold a Judiciary Committee meeting to speed up the review and passage of the bills on sex crimes against children."
Ahn said the party will push for the opening of a special National Assembly session to pass pending sex-crime related bills.
"We must root out sex offenses against children and do our best to pass the bills at the National Assembly in March," he said.
In late 2009, the GNP pledged to pass a total of 11 bills related to the prevention and punishment of sex crimes shortly after a brutal child rape case drove the nation into a fury.
However, it has only managed to pass one of them - the setting up of a DNA bank to help combat 11 serious crimes, including rape, murder and robbery.
Five bills, including ones calling for chemical castration and the establishment of a fund for rape victims, are pending at parliamentary standing committees with discussions put on hold.
Some 60 senior prosecutors from across the country held a video conference to discuss ways to prevent sex crimes against children, including the introduction of retroactive punishment.
But quite a few of them acknowledged that this might be against the Constitution and would likely trigger strong opposition.
Lim Ji-bong, a law professor of Sogang University, also said that such a penalty is unconstitutional.
"The Assembly can create a retroactive legislation regarding the electronic anklet, but it will be rejected immediately if it is brought to the Constitutional Court," Lim said.
Ha Tae-hoon, a law professor of Korea University, suspects that politicians and the government are trying to redirect blame by declaring "a war against sex offenders."
Meanwhile, prosecutors decided that they would seek extraordinarily tough measures against sex crimes against children, seeking imprisonment for at least 10 years.
Under a current law revision enacted in September 2008, anybody convicted of sexual assault against a child, or more than two rapes, is forced to wear an electronic anklet 24 hours a day for up to 10 years.
The electronic device alerts law-enforcement officials when the offenders violate their curfew or enter prohibited areas such as school zones or homes of a prior victim.
According to the National Police Agency, 1,017 sex crimes against children under the age of 12 occurred last year - three cases a day on average.
`전자발찌법’ 조기 시행 추진
부산 여중생 성폭행 살해사건을 계기로 이른바 '전자발찌법' 개정안의 시행시기를 앞당기려는 움직임이 일고 있지만 소급입법의 위헌성 여부 등 난제가 도사리고 있는 것으로 지적되고 있다.
법무부는 국회에 계류 중인 `특정범죄자에 대한 위치추적 전자장치 부착 등에 관한 법률' 개정안의 시행시기를 공포 후 6개월 안쪽으로 앞당기는 방안을 검토 중이라고 9일 밝혔다.
한나라당은 법무부와 당정회의를 열어 전자발찌 제도가 시행된 2008년 9월 이전에 기소된 성범죄자에 대해서도 소급 적용하는 방안을 추진키로 해 정부입법안보다 한층 강화된 내용으로 이달 안에 개정안이 통과될 가능성이 크다.
이와 별도로 법무부는 내부적으로 전자발찌법의 소급 적용에 관한 법리 검토에 착수했으며, 대검찰청은 이날 화상회의를 열어 "전자발찌 확대는 헌법상 금지된 소급 입법이 아니다"는 결론을 내고 법무부에 이런 의견을 전달키로 했다.