On May 19th, KICJ held a preview showcase of its newly built platform, 'Comparative Criminal Law Database (CCLDB)' (https://kicj.re.kr/ccldb/). The event began with opening remarks from Tae-hoon Ha, President of KICJ, followed by congratulatory remarks from Jin Kuk Lee, President of the Korean Criminal Law Association, Kyung Lyul Lee, President of the Korean Association of Comparative Criminal Law, and Sang Hoon Han, Vice President of the Korean Association of Criminology. After Dr. Minyoung Choi, Research Fellow at KICJ, introduced the contents of the database and the ways to use it, presentations continued on the topic of ‘Comparative criminal law research: review and prospects.' Dr. Hyowon Kang from Seoul National University Human Rights Center and Prof. Seongki Lee from Sungshin Women's University Dept. of Law each gave presentations in the field of common law. Next, Prof. Taek Su Kim from Keimyung University Dept. of Law and Prof. Dong-Hee Lee from the Korean National Police University Dept. of Law gave presentations in the field of civil law. The Comparative Criminal Law Database (CCLDB) provides comparative information on criminal law in different countries. The database is based on research reports published by KICJ. CCLDB was established to respond to growing needs for criminal law research on major countries for △establishing global standards △aims related to public interest i.e. mutual legal assistance, as well as reflecting trends of globalization △building a structured, multifaceted legal information system on criminal law worldwide. The database contains information on the criminal code and particulars of five countries (UK, US, France, Germany, Japan), including ▲general principles in criminal law ▲constituent elements of crime ▲corporate criminal liability ▲inchoate crime ▲complicity ▲prisoners and punishment in the criminal code, and △homicide △injury and assault △larceny and fraud △sexual offences △forgery △bribery △perjury among particulars. Users can search the database for information on criminal legislations, theories, court cases, and institutions by country. KICJ plans to improve data accessibility by examining statistics on database use and user analytics, and expand user-friendly services.

"For the last three years, we've been conducting comparative analyses of criminal law in five countries that best represent common and civil law systems," said KICJ Research Fellow Dr. Minyoung Choi, who directed the CCLDB project. "We plan on continuing with our research on criminal procedure codes and mutual legal assistance in those countries this year and the next." "We hope the database will help legal research and be used as preliminary data in the legislation and amendment of criminal law, as well as in designing and revising of working practices," said KICJ President Tae-hoon Ha.