Is the ‘Articles for the Government of the Korean Constabulary’ Law?

The position of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court is that ‘Articles for the Government of the Korean Constabulary’ was either enacted as an &quotOrdinance&quot by the Military Governor&quots authority or promulgated by means other than publication in the Official Gazette, as an &quotother regulation&quot amending the &quotformer above-said Articles.&quot It is questionable whether the fact of the law&quots promulgation can be assumed rather than proven or verified. <br/> The English name of the Act is ‘Articles for Government of Korean Constabulary’ which means &quotRegulation for the Korean Constabulary.&quot However, without any records of its enactment or promulgation, this regulation was suddenly renamed and applied as the then-effective Act. Indeed, it appeared as a law long after its supposed enactment, promulgation, and effective date. However, ‘Articles for Government of Korean Constabulary’cannot be considered a law. Originally, the American ‘Articles of War,’ which is said to be the prototype of ‘Articles for Government of Korean Constabulary’ was merely a &quotwartime manual&quot applied during wartime, as its name suggests. Later, this wartime manual was incorporated into the legal code with the approval of Congress for each article.<br/> However, unlike the United States, there was no process in our country for incorporating wartime manuals or regulations for the Korean Constabulary into the legal code. Therefore, ‘Articles for Government of Korean Constabulary’cannot be considered a law. Even considering the political situation around July 5, 1948, when the law was supposedly enacted, and other promulgated ordinances, it could not possibly have been enacted or implemented as an ordinance. It is impossible to apply a single-trial system for military judicial officers and allow military prosecutors to have exclusive prosecutorial rights while stipulating a hierarchical system and exclusive prosecutorial rights for civilian prosecutors.<br/> It is said that a document indicating the promulgation of ‘Articles for Government of Korean Constabulary(Coast Guard)’ was discovered in the U.S. National Archives, but it does not show that the Ordinance was actually promulgated. It is merely a pamphlet containing a draft for the law. Moreover, it appears that this pamphlet and other U.S. military government ordinances were interpreted in an unreasonable way to fit certain claims. ‘Articles for Government of Korean Constabulary’ is by no means a law.