Study on the Unconstitutionality of Sports Toto in Korea under the Right of Mental Health

Abstract

Objectives: We examined the mutual relationship between the Sports Promotion Act and the Enforcement Decree of the Sports Promotion Act to understand the unconstitutionality of Sport Toto in Korea. Methods/Statistical Analysis: To prove the unconstitutionality of Sports Toto, a precise understanding of its applicable Act is needed, which requires a fundamental in advance. As Sports Toto is based on the Sports Promotion Act, Article 1 of the Sports Promotion Act which the right to health, the access right to health, and the right to healthcare is based on and the chapter 4 on which Sports Toto is based on were analyzed. Findings: The results of analyzing the Sport Promotion Acts revealed that taking the social implications of Sports Toto into account, Korean people’s right to health, access right to health, and right to healthcare are infringed considerably by carrying forward Sports Toto itself. Regarding the relationship between the rationality of Sports Toto’s existence and the Constitution of the Republic of Korea in terms of unconstitutionality, various precedents related to this issue are required. Also, nothing is mentioned about people’s right to health either in Article 24~32 of the Sports Promotion Act or in Article 26~40 of the Enforcement Decree of the Sports Promotion Act which still suggests the possibility of the unconstitutionality over the relevant articles. Improvements/Applications: By diversifying and institutionalizing existing countermeasures against the social side effects, Sports Toto must take responsibility for people’s mental health, and regarding this, there is still a lot to discuss.