Assemblyman Lee Byung-hoon Proposes Bill Requiring 'Family Consent Confirmation' for Autopsies Unrelated to Crime

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Congressman Lee Byung-hoon (Democratic Party of Korea·Gwangju Dong-gu Nam-gu Eul) announced on the 19th that he has proposed a partial amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act that prohibits autopsy on corpses that are clearly unrelated to crime without the consent of the bereaved family.

The current law allows autopsy on corpses through a warrant issued by a judge without the consent of the bereaved family, but there have been criticisms that autopsies are frequently conducted even in cases where it is clear that the death was due to a simple accident.

The amendment proposed by Congressman Lee requires obtaining prior consent from the bereaved family if an autopsy or physical examination of the corpse is to be conducted by investigative agencies, even when it is clear that the death is unrelated to crime.

In fact, in the recent building collapse disaster in the redevelopment area of Hakdong, Gwangju, although it was clear that the death was accidental and the bereaved family opposed the autopsy, the autopsy was ultimately carried out.

Subsequently, the bereaved families posted a petition on the Blue House National Petition Board under the name of the bereaved family representative, stating that “it is unfair to autopsy a corpse whose cause of death is obvious to anyone, and that the law should be improved so that the cause of death can be legally recognized without undergoing an autopsy in cases of clear accidental death.”

This bill is also being proposed as a follow-up measure to the meeting held at that time.

Congressman Lee said, “While autopsy is necessary to prevent unjust deaths, some argue whether it is necessary to conduct autopsies that hurt the mourning feelings of the bereaved families even in cases where the cause of death is clear,” and added, “It is time to conduct legal review and discussion regarding autopsies of the deceased who are clearly unrelated to crime, such as accidental deaths.”

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