보호소년에 대한 7호 처분의 실효성 확보방안 = Measures to Ensure the Effectiveness about Item 7 of Protective Detention of Juvenile

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

It is recognized in legal regulations that juveniles are physically and mentally less mature than adults. Specifically, Article 1 of the Juvenile Act explicitly states its purpose, stating that protective detentions are intended to lead juveniles growing soundly by providing special measures on criminal punishment. This immaturity of juveniles is theoretically acknowledged in the Juvenile Act, based on the ‘educational philosophy’ that juveniles should be treated differently from adults and ‘Parens patriae(parent patriot)’ which means nation is their parent.
However, unlike in the past, criminal acts committed by juveniles are so brutal and ruthless that they are indistinguishable from those committed by adults. For this reason, there have been opinions for lowering the age of juvenile delinquency and abolishing the Juvenile Act. However, it cannot be only solution to diminish juvenile crimes by imposing harsher punishments through lowering the age of juvenile delinquency and abolishing the Juvenile Act.
Unlike adults, juveniles can quickly reflect on their actions, depending on the treatment and education they receive. This allows them to grow into adults capable of discerning right and wrong after rehabilitation to the society. This juvenile protection principle is codified in the Juvenile Act, which provides item 1 ~ 10 of protective detentions and these measures serve as a means of achieving social rehabilitation through correction and moralization.
Especially, item 7 of protective detention of juvenile stipulates placement in a hospital, nursing home, or a medical rehabilitation juvenile detention center under the Act on the Treatment of Protected Juveniles, etc. Unlike other protective detentions, item 7 is a protective measure that not only provides correction and moralization for criminal acts but also provides treatment for juveniles with medical conditions. However, among the ten juvenile detention centers nationwide, only Daejeon Juvenile Detention Center functions as a medical rehabilitation center.
However, Daejeon Juvenile Detention Center also has numerous internal and external issues that should be improved in order to implement treatment, correction, and moralization which are suitable for the individual characteristics of juveniles. Therefore, this paper aims to identify various issues and propose policy solutions based on an analysis of item 7 and the current status of Daejeon juvenile Detention Center.