Prescription system which acknowledges one's right or curtails one's right by 'passage of time' has been legalized in most examples of legislation. It can be considered as a system based on the balance and harmony of legal stability and social justice...
Prescription system which acknowledges one's right or curtails one's right by 'passage of time' has been legalized in most examples of legislation. It can be considered as a system based on the balance and harmony of legal stability and social justice.
The purpose of this thesis is to study about the Extinctive Prescription in Public Law, that would be meaningful to public legal system in terms of there recently have been a lot of talks and a boom in comprehensive revision of extinctive prescription system in civil law. This research mainly ranges over extinctive prescription of pecuniary obligations in public law and claims for damages in the National Compensation Act.
First of all, this research briefly studies the significance of the extinctive prescription and also present condition of our country's system and foreign system.
The matter about the extinctive prescription of pecuniary obligations in public law was described minutely in chapter 2. In Korea, the 96th article of National finance act and the 82nd article of Local finance act are general regulations as to the extinctive prescription of pecuniary obligations in public law. It is important to note that the articles became targets for adjudgment regarding whether they are in line with the Constitution. The Constitutional Court decided the articles are constitutional in spite of the claims of plaintiffs that it infringed on their property right and equality.
But as regards a period of 5 years I cannot help raising a question about bringing out constitutionality on the authority of the article 12-5 in an Enforcement Ordinance of Law regarding the Documentaries Maintenance of Public Institutions. According to the global tendency, curtail the period of extinctive prescription, German civil law was revised in 2002. But a pre-existing period of 30 years will be applied to the extinctive prescription of pecuniary obligations in public law, as usual. Such a decision is evaluated that the extinctive prescription system of pecuniary obligations in public law is established specifically as a means for purpose that public law pursue. If our articles infringe on the people's basic rights, referring to the German decision, they need to be amended and extended the period.
The extinctive prescription is also one of the causes of extinction of tax obligation. Therefore the extinctive prescription of tax obligations, one of the pecuniary obligations in public law, is seen as particularly important as the collection plan of delinquent tax. Before now, in Korea, the insufficient articles of extinctive prescription have been creating many habitual delinquents, who are bending the rules deliberately. With the lack of awareness taxes must be payed, an amount in arrear is increasing. This conditions would be improved by amending the comparatively short period and the interruption causes of extinctive prescription etc.
Recently, the extinctive prescription of the claims for damages in the National Compensation Act has become a salient issue in Korea. Because some people who want an apology and compensation for human rights abuses committed during previous authoritarian regimes are suing in succession. Especially the estoppel has been a key element of their lawsuits and in contrast with the low court's verdicts, the Supreme Court has applied the extinctive prescription with rigor. Also the Constitutional Court decided that the extinctive prescription in civil law applies correspondingly to the National Compensation Act is constitutional. So it becomes more difficult for the victims and the bereaved to reward, the Ministry of Justice is considerate of their feelings by means of the relinquishment of appeals lately.
This problem is connected with the Japanese government's compensations for the Korean victims in World War Ⅱ. Therefore, if the state commits torts deliberately and maliciously, the extinctive prescription never be applied to the action instead of a political solution.