국내의 강력사건은 헬기·경비함정을 이용, 즉각적인 대응 및 처리를 할 수 있으나, 공해상 원양어선에서의 강력사건 대응은 지리적 원거리로 인한 자연적 한계가 있고, 국내법 및 국제법적 판단이 필요하다. 즉, 선박의 국적, 발생해역의 법적 지위, 가해자 또는 피해자의 국적 등을 감안하여 대한민국이 형사관할권을 행사할 수 있는지를 판단해야하며, 이러한 자연적인 문제와 함께 외국에서 해 양경찰이 실효적으로 경찰력을 발동할 수 있는가의 문제가 있다. 본 논문에서는 최근에 발생한 803광현호를 중심으로 관할권, 피의자 신병처리, 선상살인 사건의 근본 원인을 분석하여 향후 유사사례 발생 시 신속한 수사를 위한 제도적 개선방안을 제시하고자 한다.

The right to free interpretation in criminal proceedings is one of the important components of the right to fair trial in international law. It applies to everyone within the territory and jurisdiction of the State, including those ethnic minorities who speak and write different languages from the ethnic majority. The international human rights treaty bodies and regional human rights courts expanded the scope of this right and imposed more obligations upon the State parties through the general comments and jurisprudences. This right serves to the interest of the right to fair trial in criminal proceedings. Under Chinese law, there might be two or more languages used in judicial proceedings in ethnic autonomous areas. In the case that one specific language is designated as the language to prosecute and try a specific criminal case, the Chinese judicial organs must provide interpretation and translation to the participant who is not familiar with that specific language. Therefore the right to free interpretation is implied in Chinese law and preserves the constitutional principle of equality to all ethnicities and the right to fair trial. The problem, however, is that such a right is not well implemented in Chinese judicial practice. Several practices are inconsistent with the minimum standards developed by the jurisprudence of the international human rights treaty bodies. It is suggested that China establish the regulations and judicial interpretations that comply with international minimum standards, and provide a robust constitutional review mechanism or national human rights institution to remedy the victims for violations of this right.