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| © News1 |
A month has passed since the Criminal Procedure Act, based on the adjustment of prosecutors’ and policemen’s powers, came into effect on January 1 of this year. The key to coordinating investigative power is the abolition of the prosecution’s authority to command the police.
Unlike in the past, it means that the police do not have to hand over the case that they have judged themselves as innocent to the prosecution. In other words, the case that the police “returned” can be a criterion for evaluating whether the adjustment of the investigative power has been settled.
However, there seems to be no significant change in terms of’shame’ alone.
According to the data released by the National Police Agency on the 3rd,’Analyzing the One Month Progress of the Amended Criminal Procedure Act’, there were a total of 67061 cases in which the police decided to refrain from sending, sending back to the prosecution, and suspending the investigation for one month from January 1st.
Among them, the number of non-songchi cases was 19,539, or 28.9% of all cases. About 3 out of 10 cases received by the police were self-terminated without being judged by the prosecution.
Refusal is a’non-prosecution opinion’ before the enforcement of the Criminal Procedure Act. A non-prosecution opinion is an opinion presented by the police while sending the case to the prosecution when it is difficult to admit a crime. The enforcement of the revised Criminal Procedure Act gave the police the authority to self-terminate without presenting opinions.
The opinions of non-prosecution are divided into △no charges △no crime △no prosecution △deferral of prosecution △suspension of prosecution. However, the number of prosecution suspensions (currently suspended in investigation) was omitted in the case of non-sending last month calculated by the police.
In January, the ratio between Songchi and Busongchi was 7 to 3. The average ratio of prosecution and non-prosecution opinions (excluding suspension of prosecution) over the past five years is 6 to 4. The percentage of the police’s suspicion acceptance has risen slightly, but it is difficult to see this as a noticeable change.
Police officials responded cautiously, saying, “There seems to be no such change since the enforcement of the adjustment of the investigative powers.”
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| National Police Agency © News1 Reporter Hwang Deok-Hyun |
In the last month, a total of 6187 cases were suspended, accounting for 9% of all cases. Suspension of an investigation is a disposition to temporarily suspend the investigation if it is difficult to terminate the investigation due to reasons such as unknown whereabouts of the reference person.
The suspension of the police investigation in the past was also decided under the prosecutor’s command system. At that time, it was called’suspension of prosecution’. The enforcement of the revised Criminal Procedure Act abolished the prosecutor’s authority to command the police, allowing the police to decide on their own to suspend the investigation.
However, the prosecution may request a re-investigation with the police.
The prosecutor can request a re-investigation of the case if the decision of non-remission is illegal or needs to be supplemented while retaining the record of the case of non-remission by the police for 90 days. The decision to suspend the investigation may require corrective action for 30 days.
A total of 310 cases were requested by the prosecutors to re-investigate the cases of police refusal, accounting for only 1.6% of all cases of refusal. 93 cases (1.5%) requested corrective action for the suspension of the investigation.
It is analyzed that the prosecution virtually accepted the police’s own judgment.
In particular, regarding the prosecution’s request for reinvestigation, the police emphasized that “most of the requests were close to the nature of a’complementary investigation’ to ensure the completion of the case, such as confirmation of additional facts, request for reinforcement of evidence, and review of applicable laws.”
However, in some cases of non-transmission, it was confirmed that the investigation was insufficient, such as an error in legal compliance and the omission of attached documents, and the police also acknowledged the need for improvement.
At a back briefing held at the National Police Agency on the 3rd, Choi Seung-ryul, the head of the National Investigation Headquarters, said, “I am worried that the case could not be handled properly due to the police’s decision to dismiss. I’m supposed to do it, so I don’t have to worry too much.”
The police also emphasized that as a follow-up measure for the adjustment of the investigative powers, the National Investigation Headquarters, which is a general and coordination body for police investigations, is established, and that efforts are being made to establish a responsible investigation system.
However, since the beginning of this year, the suspicion of’Vice Minister Lee Yong-gu’ has been raised, and there are voices that the election of the’Head of Headquarters’, which is the head of the National Investigation Headquarters, must be completed quickly.
This is because the criticism of public opinion about the’police’s right to terminate the investigation right’ is spreading, as the police confirmed the video of the’black box’, which is the core evidence of the Vice Minister’s case, and dismissed it.
The head of the headquarters, who oversees the police investigation, is expected to be executed after the Lunar New Year holidays.