• Title/Summary/Keyword: Mens rea

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Reinforcement of Criminal Responsibility of Corporations in the Occurrence of an Accidental Death in the U.K.: Focusing on "Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007" (사망재해 발생 기업에 대한 형사책임 강화 - 영국의 '법인 과실치사법'을 중심으로 -)

  • Jung, Jinwoo
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.23 no.4
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    • pp.374-383
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    • 2013
  • Objectives: The major objective of this study is to review overall and in detail the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 in the U.K.and the principal contents of this act. Methods: A variety of articles related to the background and circumstances under which the legistration was enacted and the details of this act were investigated and analyzed. Results: In enacting Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, legislators mainly took elements of legal culture into account and focused on seeking to broaden the law on corporate manslaughter. An indictable offence is considered to have been committed if the way in which an organization's activities are managed or organised causes a person's death and amounts to a gross breach of the relevant duty of care owed by the organization to the deceased. The way in which its activities are managed or organized by its senior management is a substantial element in the breach. Upon conviction, a corporation may be ordered to remedy any breach, publicize its failures, or be given an unlimited fine. Conclusions: The enactment background and details of Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 is understood accurately. On the basis of the findings, it is necessary to heighten effectiveness of punishment.for senior management or corporations that cause a person's death in Korea.

Loss of Lives caused by Ship Accidents and Corporate Criminal Liability (해양 선박사고로 인한 인명피해와 기업의 형사책임 - 영미의 사례 및 세월호 침몰사건과 관련하여 -)

  • Kim, Jong-Goo
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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    • v.20 no.6
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    • pp.721-729
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    • 2014
  • The purpose of this article is to examine maritime accident and corporate criminal liability in comparison with cases and laws in UK and US. In Anglo-American law, a corporation can be convicted of and sentenced for a criminal offence. However, some theoretical difficulties lie in fixing a corporation with the appropriate mens rea. The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 in England is to solve those difficulties and punish a corporation like a natural person. Comparing to Anglo-American law, a corporation is difficult to be punished in Korean law because it is a well recognized theory that only natural person is capable of committing a crime. However, safety in society and workplace is earning great concern in Korea, and emphasis is put on responsibilities of corporations. This article discusses the need for legislation on corporate manslaughter act in Korea with regard to the sinking of the MV Sewol.

School Zone Automobile Accidents in Republic of Korea: Comparative Law Analysis on Criminal Responsibility of the Driver

  • Byung-Woon Lyou
    • Journal of Auto-vehicle Safety Association
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    • v.15 no.3
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    • pp.7-16
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    • 2023
  • In 2019, a child died by a school zone traffic accident in Asan, Chungcheongnam-do, the Republic of Korea. Just after the accident, under the name of the "Minsik Law", the Road Traffic Act and the Specific Crime Aggravated Punishment Act were partially revised and went into effect in Korea on March 25, 2020. The new Korean law providing for harsh penalties is designed to reduce automobile accidents in school zones. However, the penalties under the new law seems to be unconstitutionally and unduly harsh. Under the new law, a negligent driver who kills a child at a school zone could be sentenced to indefinite imprisonment, or imprisonment for 3 years or more. The criminal responsibility of a negligent driver at a school zone is the same as serious intentional felonies such as rape, robbery, abandonment resulting in death. Also, even in the case of a school zone accident, if an accident driver complies with the speed limit and other traffic laws and it is impossible to avoid the accident, the driver should not be punished. So, in order to meet the principle of proportionality, the new Korean law should be revised again. In order to find out the appropriate level and punishment method for drivers who cause accidents in school zones, this thesis will compare and analyze the laws of Korea with those of the United States, Germany, and Japan. This paper also reviews the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Korea in February 2023 that the "Minsik Law" was constitutional. Based on these analyses, this thesis seeks the direction and amendments to properly revise Korean law. In addition, this thesis is intended to present exemplary measures to improve the school zone safety.

A Study on Legal Issues with Airline Over-booking Practice (항공권 초과예약의 법률적 문제에 관한 연구)

  • Jeong, Jun-Sik;Hwang, Ho-Won
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • v.27 no.2
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    • pp.143-166
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    • 2012
  • This paper deals in depth with airline over-booking practices and legal questions therefrom in the light of public interests. Chapter I as an introduction gives clear ideas of what are the over-booking, fact-revealing current state of denied boarding and nature of the problems inherent but veiled in those practices. In Chapter II, it is reviewed whether legal instruments for DBC(Denied Boarding Compensation) are adequately equipped for airline passengers in R. O. K. Upon the results of the review that international law to which Korea is a party, domestic law and administrative preparedness for the DBC are either null or virtually ineffective, the Chapter by contrast illustrates how well the U. S. and the E. U. safeguard civil rights of their passengers from such an 'institutionalized fraud' as the over-booking. In Chapter III on which a main emphasis lies, it is examined whether the over-booking practice constitutes a criminal offense: Fraud. In section 1, the author identifies actus reus and mens rea required for fraud then compares those with every aspect of the over-booking. In conjunction with the structural element analysis, he reviews the Supreme Court's precedents that lead the section into a partial conclusion that the act of over-booking judicially constitutes a crime of fraud. Despite the fulfillment of drawing up an intended answer, the author furthers the topic in section 2 by arguing a dominant view from Korean academia taking opposite stance to the Supreme Court. The commentators assert, "To consummate a crime of fraud, there must be property damage of the victim." For this notion correlates with a debate on legally protected interest in criminalization of fraud, the section 2 shows an argument over 'Rechtgut' matters specific to fraud. The view claims that the Rechtgut comes down rather to 'right to property' than 'transactional integrity' or 'fair and equitable principles'. However, the section concludes that the later values shall be deemed as 'freedom in economic decision-making' which are the benefit and protection of the penal law about fraud. Section 3 demonstrates the self-contradiction of the view as it is proved by a conceptual analysis that the infringement on freedom in economic decision-making boils down to the 'property damage'. Such a notion is better grounded in section 4 by foreign court decisions and legislation in its favour. Therefore, this paper concludes that the airline's act of over-booking is very likely to constitute fraud in both theory and practice.

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