Since monetary penalty achieves punishment effects corresponding to imprisonment punishment by having the power of punishment, namely, the effectiveness of general prevention through the deprivation of property in the modern capitalistic society, it has been regarded as a common punishment type in the world. The custody at a workhouse as the detention for monetary punishment is fundamentally an alternative measure of penalty payment as well as a pressure measure to compel penalty payment simultaneously.
A problem is that the custody at a workhouse cannot serve to compel penalty payment for those who do not have capability to pay at all. Therefore, plans for actual penalty payment and improvement of custody-at-a-workhouse system are required so that minor defaulters without the capability to pay are not sent to a workhouse due to economic circumstances in spite of their willingness to pay Several supporting programs for minor defaulters of penalty such as installment payment, deferment payment, and social service order substituting penalty is conducted without active utilization.
Approximately 84% of the entire custody-at-a-workhouse cases were related to the penalty less than 3 million won in 2014, which implied that the majority of the custody-at-a-workhouse cases were associated with minor penalty. Moreover, it was revealed that approximately 32% of the custody-at-a-workhouse cases paid part of penalty prior to the judgment of the custody at a workhouse, and 38.4% were discharged with the payment of the unpaid penalty after the custody at a workhouse. It was regarded that they strived to pay the penalty even they could not pay the entire penalty.
On the other hand, ‘Jean Valjean Bank’, established by the Citizens’ Solidarity for Human Rights, grants loan for those who are endangered to be sent to a workhouse owing to minor penalty. The circumstances and future directions for minor defaulters of penalty can be comprehended by exploring the characteristic of lenders of Jean Valjean Bank.
This study suggests the legalization of installment payment and deferment payment of the existing penalty payment support programs, the introduction of suspended monetary punishment, and day penalty system from a more long-term perspective as the improvement plans of the custody-at-a-workhouse system for minor defaulters of penalty.
While the legalization of installment payment and deferment payment of penalty and the introduction of suspended execution of monetary punishment gradually become visible, the introduction of day penalty system still has a long way to go. However, thorough preparation is required to enact or revise regulations as the basis of the execution of actual day penalty system and to adjust the system of the relevant criminal justice institutes aside from the possibility of the introduction. Although this study is limited to the examination of the problems of the existing total penalty system and the possibility of introducing day penalty system, future studies for the introduction and execution of gradual and eventual day penalty system are expected.