우리나라에서도 세계적인 형사정책의 동향을 주시하면서 모순된 사법 체계를 개혁하고 범죄피해자를 형사사법의 중요한 대상으로 포함시키고자 하는 노력을 지속적으로 전개해 왔으며, 2000년대 들어 회복적 사법의 국내 적용 가능성 검토와 입법화 노력이 본격화되기에 이르렀다.
2005년 「범죄피해자보호법」 제정으로 범죄피해자에 대한 보호·지원이 확대되었고, 2008년 「소년법」 개정을 통해 ‘화해권고’ 제도를 도입함으로써 비로소 범죄 가해자와 피해자는 물론, 지역사회 전문 자원을 조정자로서 참여시키는 회복적 사법 이념이 현실화되기 시작했다.
회복적 사법 이념이 우리나라에 보다 체계적이고 구체화되기 위해서는 가장 먼저 다양한 입법화 추진이 이루어져야 하겠지만, 이 제도를 활용하고 실행하기 위한 조정자로서의 역할또한 이에 못지 않다고 생각하며, 1989년 제도 도입 이후 사회내처우의 핵심 기관으로서의 기능을 폭넓게 수행하고 있는 보호관찰이 그 중심에 있어야 한다고 생각한다. 우리나라의 보호관찰제도는 도입 당시 소년범 위주의 한정된 보호관찰을 실시하였으나, 1997년 성인 형사범 확대와 2008년 위치추적 전자감독제도, 2009년 벌금대체 사회봉사제도, 2011년 성폭력범죄자 신상정보 공개제도 시행 등을 통해 업무 영역의 확대는 물론, 국민들로부터 많은 신뢰와 관심을 받아 왔다. 뿐만 아니라, 1998년 도입된 가정폭력사범에 대한 보호관찰 실시를 근거로 ‘가정폭력 가해자·피해자 회복 프로그램’을 집행해 왔으며, 판·결정전조사, 청구전조사 등 조사제도와 사회봉사제도 및 법원 등의 특별준수사항 부과 이행감독을 통해 회복적 사법 이념을 다양하게 실천해 왔다고 할 수 있다.
보호관찰 단계에서 회복적 사법이 확대 적용되기 위해서는 현행법 체계내에서 실행 가능한 분야에 대한 실천 노력과 함께 적극적인 입법 추진이 병행되어야 하며, 보호관찰 이전 판·결정전조사 등 조사단계와 보호관찰 초기·지도감독·종료 등 각 단계별로 회복적 사법 이념을 구현하기 위한 집행방안 마련 및 가해자·피해자 조정자로서의 전문성 제고가 지속적으로 이루어져야 할 것으로 보인다.
In recent years, many countries around the world are rapidly adopting restorative justice initiatives as part of criticism and reflection on the punishment and reintegration-oriented criminal justice system. In the conventional criminal system, crime is defined as an offense against the national security, and criminal investigations and trials are main methods for resolving the problem. Restorative justice, on the other hand, considers crime as the harm and is fundamentally concerned with restoring relationships with involving the victim, the offender, and the community in a search for solutions which promote repair and reconciliation.
The restorative justice movement was originated from a victim-offender reconciliation program operated in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada in 1974. Since this movement was spread to several parts of the world including the United States and Germany, a variety of restorative models such as a community group conferencing, a sentencing circle, a reparation order, etc. have been developed and implemented. In addition, the interest in restorative justice system continues to grow among academic and judicial circles of the countries which are not familiar with the system and provides an insight into the rationale pursuing active researches and legislation movements.
In Korea, while keeping an eye on global trends in the field of criminal policy, our government has continually made efforts to reform inconsistencies across the judicial system and give victims central roles in the criminal justice system. It was in 2000s that feasibility of the application of the restorative justice was seriously reviewed in Korea and then many legislation efforts have been made.
Since the「Crime Victim Protection Act」was enacted in 2005, protection and support services have been expanded to the victims, and then by introducing a victim-offender reconciliation program through the amendment of the「Juvenile Act」in 2008, participation of local community members, as well as offenders and victims in the mediation process made the restorative justice principle a reality.
In order to make the conceptual idea of restorative justice more systematic and concrete in Korea, a variety of legislation movements should be pursued first, and mediators also play an important role in utilizing and implementing this program. In addition, probation should serve a pivotal role in proceeding the program, for the probation office, a core agency in the community-based corrections, has been performing a wide range of services since probation system was introduced in 1989.
When the probation was introduced in Korea, it was applied only to juvenile offenders. However, with the expansion to adult offenders in 1997, the scope of probation work has expanded to include an electronic monitoring program in 2008, a community service work program for fine defaulters in 2009. In 2011, by implementing a sex offender registry program, Korean probation has achieved remarkable growth and trust from the public. Also, based on probation for domestic violence offenders introduced in 1998, ‘a domestic violence offender-victim restoration program’ has been implemented, and a variety of principles of restorative justice have been practiced throughout investigation system such as pre-sentence/decision investigations, pre-petition investigations, community services, supervision of complying with special conditions set by the court, etc.
In order to expand the application of the restorative justice to probation, active legislation movements should be promoted along with efforts to promote feasible practices in the framework of existing laws.
Enforcement measures by stages should been arranged to realize the principle of the restorative justice including investigation stages like pre-sentence/decision investigations prior to probation, initial/supervision/terminal stages of probation, etc. And also, the experience and the expertise about the restorative justice process should be continually improved.
