미국법상 법원모욕죄와 우리 형법 제140조의 비교법적 분석 -부작위 의무를 명하는 가처분 위반을 중심으로- = Comparative Law : Comparative Legal Analysis of United States` Criminal Contempt of Court and Korea`s Criminal Code sec.140 so as to Secure the Effectiveness of Injunction

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The Judicial Body in the Republic of Korea(ROK) has been lenient against activities disrespectful of court`s orders or injunction. Such disrespect to courts` injunction has faced at worst a fine amounting to US$ some thousands under sec.140 of Korea`s criminal code which can penalize such a disrespectful act as makes court`s injunction useless. Courts in ROK have narrowed the coverage of the provision in such a way that a marshal`s execution is needed as an element of the crime besides the notice of an injunction to a party. On the contrary, courts in the U.S., where the judiciary have maintained high authority under a sound principle of rule of law, have been strict against violation of not abiding by courts` various kinds of orders or injunctions. Contempt of court, imported from the U.K., have been effectively implemented with civil and criminal penalty of a fine or imprisonment. On the comparative legal analysis between the U.S. and ROK, the coverage of the crime of rendering null and void a symbol of official secrecy (sec.140) may be enlarged to include violation of a court`s injunction only with a court`s notice. Rather than waiting for a marshal`s execution of a court`s injunction/ order, the criminal provision can apply to a violator who does not comply with the injunction provided that a court`s notice is concrete and recipient receives and understands the contents of the notice. A loose penalty against direct contempt of court in ROK compared to the U.S., besides former narrow interpretation of sec.140, may as well be corrected so as to restore the authority of the judicial decision.