A Study on the Necessity of Crime Victim Protection within the Legal Framework

In South Korea, the state incorporates victims and perpetrators into the criminal justice process in cases of conflict, leading to the violation of victims' right to safety. However, it provides protection to victims not as 'citizens' or 'inherent victims,' but rather as 'witnesses,' and does not sufficiently guarantee their right to safety. The state attempts to resolve this through a criminal justice process focused on punishing the perpetrator, but such efforts do not produce the desired outcomes due to conflicting goals. In the criminal justice process, perpetrators possess robust defense rights based on the presumption of innocence and due process. Integrating victims' rights within this framework is not easy. Therefore, ensuring the safety of victims requires employing diverse objectives and means within a broader legal framework that includes the criminal justice process, as well as administrative, civil, and private elements. When victim protection is implemented within the legal framework, it offers the following benefits: First, it can establish the inherent status of the victim, which is difficult to achieve in the criminal justice process. Second, it can achieve victim protection as a strategy for crime prevention, which is embedded within the legal framework. Third, the crime prevention effect of victim protection is clearly evident, thus driving the crime prevention objectives of the legal framework. Fourth, institutions directly or indirectly involved in the criminal justice process can be utilized for victim protection.