Protection of Minor Victims of Sexual Violence Crimes in Criminal Proceedings and the Defendant's Right to Cross-Examine

Sexual violence crimes are referred to as so-called 'personality murder' or 'soul murder'. Minor victims of sexual violence crimes have to deal with secondary damage in criminal proceedings. The regulation introduced to overcome it is Article 30 (6) of the Sexual Violence Punishment Act. Since the Constitutional Court made a constitutional decision on the regulations in 2013, there has been no change in social perception and value to the extent that the content of the proportionality principle has been changed, the number of victims of underage sexual violence has increased, and secondary damage has continued. However, in 2021, the Constitutional Court considered Article 30 (6) of the Sexual Violence Punishment Act unconstitutional by applying the changed principle of proportionality, seeing the guarantee of the accused and the defendant's right to cross-examine as a constitutional guarantee, not a procedural guarantee. This paper criticized the Constitutional Court's decision in 2021 from the perspective of underage victims and considered legislative discussions until the law was revised. Although the Sexual Violence Punishment Act has recently been revised, it is still questionable whether secondary damage to underage victims can be reduced in criminal proceedings. Therefore, this paper considered how to apply the current regulations to those under the age of 13 and those with disabilities, and to recognize the admissibility of evidence by joining a specialized investigator belonging to the court during the investigation process.