A Study on the Admissibility of Videotaped Depositions for Child Sexual Offense Victims : Focusing on Confrontation Rights and the Hearsay Rule Cases in the U.S.

The Constitutional Court held that the Article 30 Paragraph 6 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, which allows videotaped deposition of a child sexual assault victim solely based on the testimony of a trustworthy person present during the interview process, is unconstitutional since the Article violates the defendant’s right to cross-examine the witness. However, videotaped deposition of a child is crucial means of minimizing repeated statements, thereby preventing secondary victimization. Therefore, it is inevitable to raise questions regarding the Constitutional Court’s decision that prioritized the defendant’s right over the protection of child victims of sexual violence. And to critically analyze the Constitutional Court’s decision, it is necessary to analyze the similar cases of the United States since, like South Korea, judicial precedents concerning the right to confrontation and cross-examination have played a central role in the development of the videotaped deposition of a child sexual assault victim. An examination of the Constitutional Court’s decision along with relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases such as Coy v. Iowa, Maryland v. Craig, and Crawford v. Washington, as well as the statutory provisions of the Victims of Child Abuse Act (VCAA), reveals that the guarantee of the right to confrontation and the use of the videotaped deposition of a child sexual assault victim are values that can be harmonized in the interest of a fair trial. A fair trial is a constitutional right that must apply not only to the defendant but also to the victim as well. Therefore, South Korea should not only clearly establish a legal framework that recognizes the admissibility of videotaped deposition of a child sexual assault victim without infringing the defendant’s right to confront witness, but also develop flexible standards for such admissibility as well.