The Penal Law of Political Crimes Promulgated by the Governor-General of Korea

ARAI Tsutomu

doi:10.5955/jalha.1978.93

The Governor-General of Korea promulgated the penal law of political crimes on April 15th 1919 against the independence movement of Korea that burst out on March 1st. The independence movement was never violent in general but excessively extensive, therefore the Government-General suppressed the movement without mercy by force, on the other hand enacted the law afresh to punish disorderly acts. The Governor-General exercised his legislative power without the interference of the Diet at home, and that law was not one of former police regulations but one of criminal laws to cope with the movement. The characteristics and the functions of the political penal law were as follows. 1 That law had the ambiguous provision, that is breach of public peace and order; it caught hold of most acts of the movement widely. 2 That law had the severe punishment, that is imprisonment with or without labor that might extend to 10 years; it menaced the people effectively. And it aggravated the punishments of former regulations all togather, so that any of them became invalid. 3 That law punished preparatory and conspiratorial acts; it prevented the movement previously. For its provision had the same legal composition as that of the high treason in the Japanese Penal Code of those days. 4 That law punished seditious acts; it magnified its force abnormally. 5 That law took the principle of personal jurisdiction; it prevented the infiltration of the movement from abroad.The political penal law that deviated from the criminal laws system in those days put pressure upon the independence movement of Korea, and then remained in effect to the destruction of the Government-General.

The Penal Law of Political Crimes Promulgated by the Governor-General of Korea

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