초록 열기/닫기 버튼
Criminal cases where citizen publicly insult police officers have steadily increased for a few recent years. Article 311 of the Korean Criminal Act provides that "A person who publicly insults another shall be punished by imprisonment or imprisonment without prison labor for not more than one year or by a fine not exceeding two million won." This paper examined six cases received at the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and reviewed related legal issues. First, police officers who were allegedly insulted did not fully review the criminality. Second, police officers provoked citizen's insult in a few cases. Third, police officers arrested insulting citizen with no legitimate need of arrest which is required by the relevant law. This paper discusses the legality of criminal insult against police officers and concludes that police officers' arrests of insulting citizen, despite being punishable, may end up with an arbitrary decision by the police. Therefore, the police need to take some measures to restrain the abuse of police power when they arrest and investigate insulting citizen. This paper, as a conclusion, recommends that the National Police Agency order police officers on the streets to make a strict scrutiny on insulting expression and the need of arrest, provide police officers with appropriate legal education, and make guideline and checklists for police officers to reduce arbitrary and illegal arrest.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
Criminal Contempt, Police Officer, Immediate Onsight Arrest, Libel, Contemp against Public Officer
