이 연구는 「스토킹처벌법」 상 구성요건의 적용과 해석에 참고할 기준을 제시하기 위하여, 위 법률과 유사한 구성요건을 가지고 있는 「경범죄처벌법(지속적괴롭힘)」과 「정보통신망법(불안감유발)」 상 스토킹행위를 유죄 인정한 주요 판례를 분석하였다. 검토 결과, ‘상대방의 의사에 반(反)하여’의 판단 기준은 가해자가 피해자의 묵시적ㆍ추상적 의사에 반한다는 것을 인식하는 것으로 족하고, ‘불안감, 공포심’은 해외 입법례와 같이 일반상식의 ‘합리적 두려움’으로 판단하였으며, ‘정당한 이유’의 성립에 긴급성, 보충성 등을 중요한 요인으로 적시하였다. 또한, 온라인스토킹(불안감유발)의 ‘도달하게 하는 행위’는 피해자가 이를 객관적으로 인식하였는지를 기준으로 판단하는 것이 타당해 보인다. 한편, 스토킹범죄의 성립요건인 지속성은 반복성을 포괄하며, 반복성은 각기 다른 행위이거나, 중단되었다 재차 지속되는 경우까지 유죄로 인정하였다. 따라서, 기존 판례의 입장을 근거로 현행법상 구성요건의 적용을 판단할 수 있을 것이다. 이 밖에도, 개인정보 추적 및 배포, 게시 등을 스토킹행위에 포함하여 처벌의 명확성을 기하고, 상대방의 범위를 확대하는 등 개정 방향을 제안하였다.
The enactment of the 「Act on Punishment of Stalking」 has allowed exemptions for punishment and procedures for stalking crimes, and protection procedures for victims of stalking crimes to be stipulated, which becomes an opportunity to change the social awareness of stalking crimes and protect victims. However, since the components of a stalking crime require some abstract concepts and interpretations, the controversy may arise over future legal applications. Therefore, this paper aimed to suggest a standard in the interpretation of the Act on Punishment of Stalking by analyzing the Judicial precedent for violation of the 「Punishment of Minor Offenses Act」 and 「Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Use and Information Protection」, which have similar components to those of the 「Act on Punishment of Stalking」.
Regarding the interpretation of the components, ‘in victim,’ it is reasonable to consider that a crime can be established if a stalker is implicitly and abstractly aware that he/she conducts an action of stalking against the will of a victim. In respect to ‘what causes anxiety and fear,’ it is deemed to be reasonable to judge anxiety and fear as a rational fear based on the rational judgment standard of the general public. In determining ‘reasonable ground,’ the urgency and supplementation of a relevant action should be comprehensively reviewed.
Regarding ‘continuity, repetitiveness,’ repetitiveness is unnecessarily the same action to be repeated; although there are respectively different actions, they will fall under the term if the action corresponding to the category of a stalking action is repeated. In addition, it is desirable to interpret that repetitivenessㆍcontinuity is recognized even after a relatively long time has elapsed between actions.
On the other hand, it is deemed to be reasonable for the protection of the victim to consider that an ‘action of reaching’ online stalking has been reached if a victim can objectively recognize it, regardless of whether the victim is actually aware of it. Regarding collectionㆍuseㆍpostingㆍdistribution of personal information will be punished by the 「Act on Punishment of Stalking」 newly established, but if they are clearly defined as online stalking, it will lead to ensure clarity of punishment and prevent a gap in punishment.
It is deemed to continuously put efforts to review and amend the behavior category of stalking, such as online stalking, tracking, distributing, and posting personal information frequently found from stalking damages, in the future although not reflected in the legislation.