뉴노멀 시대의 헌법개정

Abstract

Under the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of the state should be expanded. The state should not only guarantee the safety of individuals' lives from the risk of infection, but also help individuals to maintain their own lifestyle. Meanwhile, in order to prevent the spread of infection, the state has no choice but to restrict the freedom of assembly and association of individuals. If there is a limit to appropriately responding to new social phenomena triggered by COVID-19 through the application of the existing legal system, constitutional amendment needs to be considered as the next step. Looking back on the history of constitutional revision of the Republic of Korea in the past, the constitution has been amended for the purpose of legitimizing power in the context of political change. The constitutional amendment have not been tried for the purpose of adapting to social change. However, it is time to consider the constitutional amendment according to the needs of the people. And in the age of new normal of COVID-19, we need to consider the constitutional amendment to actively accommodate these social changes. However, it is true that it is practically difficult to amend the constitution through the constitutional amendment procedure stipulated in the current constitution. What made the constitutional amendment process difficult was to prevent the constitutional amendment from being misused by powered people. However, the democracy of the Republic of Korea has now stabilized to some extent, and society has changed significantly under the current constitution. Moreover, in the current crisis situation, constitutional amendment is requested. Therefore, it is necessary to revise the constitutional amendment procedure so that it is possible to amend the constitution if it is necessary to adapt to social change.