A Study on Improvement of Criminal Sentencing in Korea: Determinants in Fraud Cases

The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the process of judges' sentencing in Korea. Drawing on an empirical data set of the fraud cases, the study proposes (1) to identify the determinants of judges' sentences (2) to contribute to the development of a methodology for the study of sentencing by showing how to conceptualize abstract research questions and finally (3) to identify the scope of an individual judge's discretion. The results of data analysis reveal several interesting points. First, there exists considerable discrepancy in sentencing among individual judges. Such a problem strongly suggests that it is necessary to reform and renovate the current sentencing system so as to guarantee more reasonable sentences. Second, the most important factor determining sentencing is the quantity of prosecution that prosecutors demand. Based on this result, it might appears that Korean prosecutors faithfully execute their jobs to defend the public good. However, it is also quite possible that the defendant is not able to challenge the prosecutor effectively in the trial process. If this is the case, it deserves serious attention, especially in Korea where a publically-sponsored defending attorney is provided only on very limited occasions. Because this study is being based on a limited number of cases (313 fraud cases), the findings should not be over-generalized. To make sound and proper generalizations, more cases need to be analyzed.