There is intense debate over what to make of president Roh Moo Hyun's comment about not applying the criminal and civil statue of limitations on crimes of abuse of state authority. Those who oppose the idea say his statement shakes the constitution and legal system at its roots. Perhaps aware of the criticism Roh and Cheong Wa Dae have since been explaining that he was not talking about retroactive criminal responsibility, but that backpedaling is only furthering the confusion.
Whether the opposition is based in claims of unconstitutionality or problems with legal stability there is surely logic to those arguments. However those arguments still smell of an obsession with legalism. The formalist, legalist argument is devoid of real painful thought about a reality in which those responsible for acts of torture cannot be punished because the statute of limitations has expired, a reality in which the victims of state abuses and their families are unable to receive compensation for the same reason, for example in cases like the death of Seoul National University professor Tsche Chong Kil or the "Samcheong Education" program.
What is clear is that dealing with crimes of abuse of state power relates directly to civil rights issues today, and not just to those of the past. The basic duty of the state is to guarantee the lives and basic rights of the people. It is yet another abuse of authority to violate the people's lives and basic rights only to avoid responsibility because legally the time has run out. Not compensating the victims of civil rights abuses and punishing those responsible ends up being another breach of the state's duty to protect civil rights.
There is a legal theory that says the country should adopt the trend in international law where there is no statute of limitations on crimes against humanity such as genocide and war crimes, abuses of human rights by governments. Applying that theory would of course require that strict conditions be applied. One wants to ask those who talk about unconstitutionality just what they think the constitution is. The constitution is an expression of justice and conscience in our time. Legalist logic that ignores justice and conscience directly violates the spirit of the constitution. You want to remind them of the maxim "the wheel of justice turns slowly but always bears fruit."
The Hankyoreh, 17 August 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Get Beyond the Formal Legalism |
