INTRODUCTION

The principle of due process of law is usually praised as �the most important constitutional principle for human rights protection’ (Hu 1990: 349). It was not invented by the U.S.

The Civil War (1861-1865) in the States stemmed from conflicts of inter­ests between the north and the south and three Post-War Amendments were introduced to the U.S. Constitution in 1865 (13th Amendment), 1868 (14th Amendment), and 1870 (15th Amendment), the common spirit of which was the prohibition of racial discrimination. Originally, the 5th Amendment, which was added to the U.S. Constitution in 1791, had prescribed that, �No person shall... be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law...’ And among the three Post-War Amendments, Section 1 of the 14th Amendment provided, �... nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law.’ These two clauses collectively represent due process principles in the U.S. Constitution. The due process principle has been developed mainly by the various interpretations of the due process clause by the U.S. Supreme Court. The due process clause has been used frequently by the U.S. Supreme Court in reviewing the constitutionality of a statute or actions of state and federal governments.

This chapter will briefly survey the development of the due process princi­ple through the analyses of the Supreme Court’s decisions focusing on substantive due process and procedural due process. After that, it will exam­ine the adoption of due process in the Korean Constitution in 1987 and the development of due process principles in Korea by analyzing the Korean Constitutional Court’s decisions. In the end, this study aims to explore some issues about the climate for continuous development of the due process prin­ciple in Korea.

II.