Citation

최민영. J. Crim. Law 2013; 25(2): 271-297.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

'The Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children' (Hereafter, the Protocol of Trafficking), which has functioned as a guidance for international community, defines trafficking in consideration of its purposes, means, and acts as follows. "Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs." This definition provides the types of exploitation at the minimum standard, so each state should devise legislation in more detail including various forms of trafficking which can occur in the country. In reflection of the current trend, a proposed amendment to criminal law to specifically address trafficking was approved by the Assembly plenary session, as of 5th, March, in Korea. Within the framework of the legal system in Korea, the representative provisions with regard to the punishment for trafficking and protection of victims are the provisions on kidnapping in the Criminal Law, the provisions on punishment for trafficking with the purpose of prostitution, the special act on punishment for victims of prostitution, and the protection provisions on the Act on Punishment of Prostitution Brockage and etc. However, in reality, these provisions are limited in its effectiveness of punishing traffickers and protecting its victims. In consideration of the limitations, the criminal law was revised, and a set of proposed special provisions on the punishment for trafficking and the protection of its victims were motioned. This paper discusses the major issues and problems of the revised bill and the previous provisions on trafficking. It also reviews the main contents of the bill of the special act on trafficking in comparison with the articles of the Protocol of Trafficking. Based on this, a suggestion will be provided for the direction of criminal justice for the punishment of trafficking and the protection of its victims with respect to the definition of and the punishment for trafficking, and the protection of the victims.