This research is designed as the general introduction to the interdisciplinary research project, “Risk-Governing Criminal Law and Criminology in the Late-Modern Society”, which is organised by the National Research Council for Economics Humanities and Social Science, and Korean Institute of Criminology for the years of 2012 to 2014.
The first-year research is consist of “Risk-Governing Criminal Justice & Criminology in the Contemporary Science-Technology Society” by H.Kim, “Contemporary Risk Society and the Criminal Law of Rechtsstaat” by M.Park, “Nano-technology and Risk-Governance Criminology” by J.Seong & M.Hwang, “Bio-technology and Risk-Governance Criminology” by D.Syn & H.Rosennau, and “Risk-Governance Criminology in the Developed Countries” by D.Kim & H.Jeon.
The tasks of criminal law and criminal justice in the contemporary high-technology society are to control criminal behaviour on the risk or fear of risk, to manage criminals as risk to social order, and to prevent crimes as risk. By introducing risk-management techniques into criminal justice system, criminal policy comes to be the integral part of social security net.
There are three key factors of the risk-governance criminal justice policy for Korean society as risk-society :
First of all, risk-governance for Korean society must deal with corruption in risk-producing industry and risk-control public bodies. Secondly, social fear of risk comes from the lack of public confidence on the existing risk-control system. Transparent procedures in technology-regulation systems, which is open to public participation may secure social trust. Criminal law may support the function of such public procedures. Lastly, criminal justice policy should not be exclusive against the minority, who are in the risk of being victimized by punitivism worsened by the fear of crime and risk.
Facing new risk and danger emerging in the contemporary high-technology society, criminal law and criminal justice policy should keep respecting the principle of human dignity. By preventing crime and risk, and protecting security, criminal law secures both freedom and security, and thus respects human dignity. To fill the gap in reality between highly advanced technology and under-developed social system in Korean society, and thus to be one of the most developed secure society, policies for the democratization of risk should be considered.
Risk of high-technology, which is highly possible to be realised should be controled by extended and functionalized criminal laws. Such interventions can be legitimized, only when they are the results of rational reflection and democratic discourse. However, so-called risk-criminal law, which fails to provide security by extended criminal sanction, should be criticized.
The legitimacy of criminal law on risk depends on the balance between limiting freedom and promoting security in the control of risk, considering a social consensus on the acceptability of risk in individual matters. When the risk of terrorism, sex crimes or cybercrimes are not identified, early-intervention or extended intervention of criminal sanction would not be justified. The risk of high-technology, such as nuclear-technology or bio-chemical technology, would legitimately be controlled by risk-governing criminal law, as the effect of preventing risk and promoting security can be identifiable.
The practical objects of risk-governing criminal law and criminal justice would be direct and indirect risk to absolute risk. In the control of such types of risk, criminal law is rightly prima ratio, rather than ultima ratio. Direct risk to relative risk would be controlled by criminal law, as ultima ratio. Indirect risk to relative risk should be managed by police laws, not by criminal law.