In the reality where about 1.7 million cases of crime occur every year, anyone can be harmed by a crime. Such crime victims first suffer physical, mental and economic pain, and then meet the next damage by wrong investigation customs of the investigat...
In the reality where about 1.7 million cases of crime occur every year, anyone can be harmed by a crime. Such crime victims first suffer physical, mental and economic pain, and then meet the next damage by wrong investigation customs of the investigative institutions in criminal procedure and sensationalized reports of the press institutions.
In this reality, a nation needs to provide protection of the basic human rights according to the constitution, prevention of the second damage to crime victims occurring in criminal procedure, which is a process of discovering the actual truth, and early reaction with long-term support rather than temporary support when crime damage occurs.
Accordingly, Korea is implementing a crime victims’ aid that provides them with economic support, a protection and support system for crime victims to prevent a subsequent damage that can occur in criminal procedures and a protection and support system for crime victims by the investigative institutions. However, due to the nation’s limits in human force and budget and in the actual laws, Korea is having difficulties in protecting and supporting crime victims. Therefore, since the criminal judicial institutions cannot only consider the standpoint of the crime victims, the existence of civil support organizations, which can fill the gap of government-lead protection and support of crime victims, has become necessary.
In recognizing the importance of civil support organizations, Kimcheon and Gumi support center for crime victims was established in 2003 and brought out great interest of society in civil support organizations for crime victims. During a short period of time from late 2004 to February, 2005, Ministry of Justice and Prosecutors’ Office established 54 support centers for crime victims in the form of a civil organization, centered on the areas of the prosecution jurisdiction.
However, the support centers for crime victims were established with the inherent limits in organizational structure, human force available, poor financial situation, and lacking public relations, etc.
Therefore, two aspects of the improvement solutions can be considered at a broad level to overcome the initial limits of a support center for crime victims and to be clearly reborn as a civil organization that provides the integrated protective and supportive service for the crime victims.
First, examination of the improvement solutions of the centers for their internal capacity showed that it is necessary to carry out the education for raising voluntary-group human force and enhancing professionalism in order to form a stable, professional organization and human force. Also, their tendency to depend on the government must be thrown away, securing enough independence and autonomy. Thus, a nationwide associated corporation must be established in order to systematically educate and train the permanent workers, make nationwide public relations, research and develop a manual for victim support, etc. Also, in order to prevent an overlap in protecting and supporting activities for crime victims and to have a rising effect in protection and support, a mutually cooperative system with the existing support organizations for crime victims need to be constructed.
In addition, in order to activate the criminal control system recently put into effect, it is also necessary to increase the reliability of the control system through a solution that utilizes notarization and conciliation before a lawsuit that has the approved executive powers in the matters of criminal control. It is also necessary to select civil experts that have the related abilities and qualifications, to educate them with proper control and mediation techniques, and to develop useful control programs.
Next, the governmental support system needs to be improved in order to ensure that the centers can stably carry out their activities of protecting and supporting victim criminals.
In the area of direct financial support, the eligibility conditions for subsidy need to be relaxed, the methods of distribution need to be considered from multi-perspectives, and a third council for review is necessary when making a subsidy decision. Also, as to preparation of financial resources for subsidy, which is the most important, a solution of collecting fines and using them as financial resources for victim support as in America or Germany needs to be reviewed positively, and the excessive supervisory and administrative rights about the registered corporations written in the current laws need to be alleviated. Also, in the area of indirect support, tax reduction, reduction on the mailing costs, administrative support, free rental of public facilities, etc need to be considered.
Lastly, the criminal judicial institutions must smoothly provide the information about victims and construct a mutually cooperative system with the support centers such that the centers can provide appropriate support for the crime victims.
The enhancement of internal capacity in the support centers for crime victims and the establishment of supporting system from the government will become two saw teeth that will engage and rotate together to provide efficient protection and support for crime victims.