The purpose of this study is to analyze the legal liabilities for sports accidents and sports insurances. In the various advanced countries, the approaches for sports accidents have been systematically established, and their lots of survey results hav...
The purpose of this study is to analyze the legal liabilities for sports accidents and sports insurances. In the various advanced countries, the approaches for sports accidents have been systematically established, and their lots of survey results have been accumulated through joint work between the educational system in the field of sports and law. However, there is something yet to learn in this field in Korea. Trouble still exists because compensatory standards for sports accidents are not clear.
Like this, sports accidents have 'unreasonable structure that anybody isn't perfectly ready and compensated'. Therefore, this study has groped taking precautions, reasonable settlements of the dispute, and compensatory countermeasures against sports accidents. To be concrete, while I have worked on the criminal, civil, and administrative liabilities directly relating to sports accidents, and made an analysis of recent precedents. Besides, I have generally investigated the related basis text of the law and sports insurances. It is as follows;
1) Sports accidents and Criminal liabilities
Unexpected accidents broken out in the middle of the sports activities are inevitable, but they were treated as 'allowed risk' except for their unavoidable cases.
According to our criminal code, the patterns of accidents were divided into the Article 13 (criminal intent) and the Article 14(negligence), and it restricts direct relation of acts and results through the Article 17(causality). Illegality is organized by the Article 20(justifiable act)and the Article 24(consent of the victim).
What is a court's standard of judgement on the responsibilities for sports accidents? According to the precedents of the Supreme Court, the essential point is to foresee dangers in advance, and be taken enough safety steps. And then careful attention must be paid objectively. Consequently the court controls itself criminal punishments for sports accidents as possible, and it recognizes sports' own identities as far as players, sports leaders, facilities offerers, and sponsors don't get out of usual attentions and social corresponding.
2) Sports accidents and Civil liabilities
The regulations of our civil law, the Article 30(non-payment of debt and compensation for damage), the Article 391(criminal intent, negligence of assistant of execution), the Article 750(contents of tort), the Article 393(the scope of compensation for damage), the Article 751(compensation for damage except for property), the article 752(solatium caused by infringement of one's life, are important legal foundations in sports disputes.)
First of all, there must be proximate cause between sports accidents and damages.
This is divided into the subjective, objective, and compromising theory of proximate cause in accordance with the standard of judgement, and of these, the compromising theory of proximate cause is our scholarly opinions. In addition, the Supreme Court has also the same views. However, if someone raises a law suit, there is no real winner between a plaintiff and a defendant. A victim finally sustains a loss because he or she has to lots of time and judicial costs. Actually it's really hard to receive 100 % of liquidated damages requested. Although an offender wins a case, he or she also suffers a lot in the end.
Above all, someone who's engaged in sports has to prevent civil action when sports accidents occur. Though the determination is in progress, I think the systematic management systems that prepare against a law suit need to be arranged.
3) Sports accidents and Administrative liabilities
The administrative liabilities for sports accidents are administrative acts which take additional sanctions like reprimands or orders of placement on waiting list upon him or her, in case the public officer causes troubles on criminal or civil liabilities. In this case, it is generally contrary to the principle of prohibition against double jeopardy to impose both a punishment and a punishment on discipline on the same act at the same time. But it's also possible to impose both of them because a punishment and administrative crime are legally different. So are their base of power, purposes, contents, and targets.
The national and local government have to compensate damages according to the state compensating act, if the public officer violates laws and regulations to bring about damages on purpose or negligence during his or her working hours. The legal foundation is just state compensating act. The regulations are based upon the compensation liabilities caused by the execution of public power and the establishment, management, and defect of public works.
4) Sports accidents and Sports insurances
Prevention comes first for sports accidents. We can never be too safe. But we cannot avoid inevitable unexpected danger no matter how cautious we may be.
Therefore, it is imperative to make a system that victims for sports accidents socially get enough compensations. Especially we should improve epochally various insurance systems relating to sports activities like foreign advanced countries.
The players and their families who are suffering from sports accidents are competent to get plenty of compensations in a current welfare society. I'd like to say this sort of welfare security systems will contribute to the activation in sports separating from responsibilities.
As a result, I'd like to make a few suggestions. First, establishment by sports dispute mediation law, second, setting up a new professional sports court, third, to decide on sports insurance systems, fourth, sportsmen's launching themselves into law. In the end, I'd like this study to be a small bridge that sports and law meet each other. The study covers a wide range, so I'd like to expect challenges for much further approaches in the near future.