2010년 4월 기존 범죄피해자구조법과 범죄피해자보호법을 통합, 전면 개정한 [범죄피해자보호법]과 새롭게 제정된 [범죄피해자보호기금법]이 법제사법위원회를 통과하여, 새로운 범죄피해자 구조지원 정책의 개막을 예고하고 있다. 하지만, 새로이 개정된 [범죄피해자보호법] 역시 구조제도의 법적 성격, 다른 보호지원대상자와의 형평성 등 다양한 쟁점들이 충분히 검토되지 못한 채, 그 정치적·현실적 필요성에 치우쳐 입안됨으로써 향후 많은 문제점을 야기할 가능성이 있다. 이 글은 [범죄피해자보호법]에 내재한 인식론적 및 방법론적 한계를 비판적으로 재검토하기 위하여 기획되었다. 여기에서는 무엇보다도 현행 범죄피해자 구조제도가 어떤 문제점을 가지고 있는지 검토함으로써, 바람직한 피해자보호 지원의 정책방향과 향후 과제들을 제시해 보고자 한다.

In April 2010, the fully amended [Crime Victims Protection Act] and the newly enacted [Crime Victims Protection Fund Act] passed the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, heralding a new support policy of crime victims. But Korea`s policy of protecting crime victims cannot move into a genuinely new epoch until the following present problems and tasks are addressed. First, the current programs to protect and support crime victims in Korea are governed by numerous laws including the Crime Victim Protection Act(also covering the Crime Victim Aid Act), the Criminal Procedure Act, the system of order for compensation, the Legal Aid Act, the Act on Special Cases concerning the Punishment of Specific Violent Crimes(Measures for personal safety on witness), the Act on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Protection etc. of Victims, the Act on the Prevention of Sexual Traffic and Protection, etc. of Victims thereof, the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes and Protection of Victims thereof, the Child Welfare Act, the Act on the Prevention of and Countermeasures against Violence in Schools, the Act on the Persons Performing the Duties of Judicial Police Officials and the Scope of their Duties. Given the presence of dispersed norms, maintaining the unity in policy to support and aid crime victims faces difficulties in reality, as well as problems of overlapping scopes of protection which also goes against equity and uneven, inefficient resource allocation. Second, it is more problematic that even though Korea is equipped with crime victims` claim for aid which is stipulated in the Constitution as fundamental rights, effective restitution for crime victims is not satisfactory compared to that of other countries where compensation is governed by the law. This largely originates from the constraint of the government finance in terms of financing and tax burdens, but in essence, has something to do with the unclear legal nature of Korea`s crime victims aid system. Indeed, such nature led to the criticism that the claim was provided under the Constitution despite its lack of logical defensibility, disproportionately driven by political necessity when the Crime Victim Aid Act was enacted. Likewise, while various issues such as the legal nature of aid system and equity with the others eligible for protection support had been left without sufficient review, the political· realistic necessity was mainly behind the designation of the newly revised [Crime Victim Protection Act]. Therefore, there is a good chance that this Act will cause numerous problems. This essay intends to critically review the epistemological and methodological limit inherent in the [Crime Victim Protection Act]. Here, above all things, priority is given to examination of the problems which the current crime victim aid system has, so that desirable policy directions of victim protection & support and future tasks can be suggested.