Six Months Since the Enforcement of the Revised Criminal Procedure Act and Prosecutors' Office Act... Decrease in Police Referrals and Increase in Objection Cases

An information notice posted at the reception desk of the Dedicated Complaint and Accusation Officer's Office on the first floor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, in early January this year, when the revised Prosecutors' Office Act was enforced. Photo by Choi Seok-jin

[Asia Economy Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] During the six months since the enforcement of the amended Criminal Procedure Act and the amended Prosecutors' Office Act, which significantly limited the scope of direct investigations by the prosecution and adjusted the investigative authority between the police and prosecution, the number of cases sent from the police to the prosecution decreased, while the number of cases sent to the prosecution following objections to the police's decision not to send cases increased significantly.

On the 9th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced in the '2021 First Half Operation Status of the Amended Criminal System' that "During the six months after the enforcement of the amended laws, the number of cases directly sent or forwarded by the police, cases sent to the prosecution and prosecuted, and cases recognized or received as complaints or accusations by the prosecution all decreased compared to the previous year."

However, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office noted that "Objections to the police's decision not to send cases showed an increasing trend compared to the first quarter."

According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the number of cases directly sent or forwarded by the police to the prosecution during the first half of this year was 538,889, an 8% decrease compared to 586,250 cases during the same period last year.

The number of direct sent or forwarded cases refers to the number of cases sent by the police minus cases not sent, cases where investigations were suspended, cases sent after supplementary investigations requested by the prosecution, and cases sent to the prosecution following objections by parties involved in the cases.

During the same period, the number of cases prosecuted after being sent from the police to the prosecution also decreased by 15.7%, from 194,252 cases in the first half of last year to 163,730 cases in the same period this year.

On the other hand, the cumulative number of cases sent to the prosecution following objections by complainants, accusers, or victims to the police's decision not to send cases showed a sharp increase from 131 cases in January to 2,237 cases in March and 8,700 cases in June.

With the scope of direct investigations by the prosecution reduced to six major serious crimes, the total volume of direct investigations by the prosecution also decreased significantly.

The number of cases recognized by prosecutors was 1,736, a 40% decrease compared to 2,879 cases during the same period last year. Cases where complaints or accusations were directly received by the prosecution also decreased by 73.5%, from 51,049 cases last year to 13,533 cases this year.

The number of supplementary investigation requests for cases sent by the police was 35,098, accounting for 11.2% of the total sent cases (313,503 cases).

Supplementary investigation requests for cases sent to the prosecution following re-investigation requests or objections to the police's decision not to send cases amounted to 8,911, representing 5.4% of the total cases sent following non-sending and objections (165,313 cases).

Meanwhile, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated that since the enforcement of the amended criminal laws this year, the significant reduction in direct investigations by prosecutors has caused issues such as investigation gaps and delays in investigating false accusation crimes and identifying the true perpetrators in sent cases.

Regarding false accusation cases, the number of cases recognized by prosecutors from January to June this year was 129, a 59.4% decrease compared to 318 cases in June last year.

This is analyzed to be because, according to Article 4 of the Prosecutors' Office Act, prosecutors can only directly investigate false accusation crimes if they recognize the case related to a sent case, and many false complaint or accusation cases are being forwarded to the prosecution as 'not sent' cases.

Additionally, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office pointed out that it is difficult to initiate direct investigations even when prosecutors discover the true perpetrators who are not suspects while investigating sent cases or maintaining prosecutions, highlighting the need for improvement.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office explained that since it is unclear whether a direct investigation by prosecutors of a separate true perpetrator, who is not an accomplice, can be considered a "case directly related to the sent case," inefficiencies arise as investigations must be restarted at the judicial police stage.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated that although there was some confusion in practice due to the overall reform of the criminal justice system, the prosecution and police have been discussing and coordinating detailed issues through more than ten ad hoc working-level meetings during the first half of the year.

A representative from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said, "We will actively propose amendments and suggestions regarding the operational issues of the amended criminal laws," adding, "The prosecution will actively respond to the necessary improvements in the operation of the amended criminal laws and continue efforts to establish a desirable investigative system."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.