Should government abolish statute of limitations(공소시효)?
In my opinion, government should abolish statute of limitations. First of all, the realization of a just society is not available. If statute of limitations continues, we cannot punish the pass evil deed. Basically person who committed a crime should be punish. They infringed on other’s human right. According to Korean constitution article 10, all citizens shall be assured of their human worth and dignity and shall have the right to pursue happiness. People who injured other person arrogated other’s right to pursue happiness. They should be punished by law. A second reason is that abolishing statute of limitations can assure punishment of criminal. Victims and their families will feel anxious and uneasy. By punishing criminals, victims and their families can be compensated their resentment. For example, in 1998, in Daegue one girl whose name is Eunhee Jeong was hit by truck and died. Her family said there is a evidence that she was suffered from a sex crime, but it was ignored because of the lack of evidence. After 15 years, in 2013, police found the criminal. Finally the fact that she suffered from a sex crime was proved. However, Criminal couldn't be punished because of the statute of limitation. Third, by abolishing statute of limitations, Government can prevent abuse of statute of limitations. Abolishing statute of limitation recognize to criminal that they cannot avoid punishment if they committed a crime. According to the National Police, from 2008 to 2012 there are 719,530 crimes which are expired by Statute of limitations. Criminals know that if they conceal themselves while period of statute of limitation, they will be not punished. Therefore they abuse the system. For example, there are a woman who killed her husband and hid her crime. Fortunately for police and victim, she had her collar felt by police 25 days before the expiration date of statute of limitation. For these three reasons, I think government should abolish statute of limitations.
<Work Cited>
[1] Wikipedia. (2015, Augest 11). 대한민국 헌법 제 10조. Retrieved from
[2] Kim Dongpil. (2015, Augest 30). ‘그것이 알고 싶다’ 공소시효 덫에 빠진 대구 여대생 살인사건… 결국 ‘무죄’. Retrieved from
[3] Lee Euntaek. (2013, December 4). 15년 공소시효 25일 남기고 前남편 살해 들통. Retrieved from
<Reference Image by>
1. 2008~2012년 공소시효가 만료된 범죄현황 - the National Police. (2015, December ). Retrieved from
