[2020 National Audit] Prosecutor Visits Only 0.07%... "Need to Improve Inmate Defense Rights Protection"

Status of Official Visits (Investigation Visits, etc.) at Correctional Facilities Nationwide / Ministry of Justice

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Claims have been raised that there has been no improvement at all in the prosecution's summons investigation system.

On the 12th, Park Jumin, a member of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, analyzed data submitted by the Ministry of Justice and found that from early this year, when the summons investigation controversy was at its peak, until the end of August, the prosecution's rate of visiting correctional facilities for investigations was only 0.07%.

Earlier, in April, the Ministry of Justice and Prosecution Reform Committee recommended that all prosecution investigations of inmates be conducted through on-site visits or remote video investigations, and that summons investigations at the prosecutor's office be allowed only with the approval of the head of the correctional facility for justifiable reasons. Additionally, it emphasized that current law does not explicitly provide a legal basis for prosecutors to summon inmates for investigation.

However, despite these recommendations, the rate of inmates visiting the prosecutor's office for investigations reached 20.8% as of the end of August this year.

On the other hand, looking at the status of official visits to correctional facilities nationwide, the number of prosecution visits was 54 cases (0.10%) in 2017, 59 cases (0.11%) in 2018, and 35 cases (0.06%) in 2019. Especially, in the first eight months of this year, the prosecution visited correctional facilities only 24 times (0.07%). Among these, prosecutors personally visited only 7 times (0.02%).

Assemblyman Park stated, "Following the recommendations of the Ministry of Justice and Prosecution Reform Committee, the Ministry of Justice recently formed a Human Rights Investigation System Improvement Task Force and announced measures to improve investigation practices, which also include sanctions against indiscriminate summons investigations," adding, "For the guarantee of inmates' defense rights, protection of human rights, and efficiency of correctional administration, fundamental improvements to the long-standing summons investigation system are absolutely necessary."

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