Criminal Liability Reduction for Legitimate Duty Execution: 'Police Duty Execution Act' Amendment Passes Judiciary Committee

Specification of Criminal Acts Such as Violent Crimes, Domestic Violence, and Child Abuse

On the afternoon of the 10th, Park Kwang-on, the chairman, is striking the gavel at the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The amendment to the "Police Officer Duty Execution Act" (Gyeongjikbeop), which reduces criminal liability for damages arising from the legitimate execution of police officers' duties, has passed the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

On the afternoon of the 10th, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a plenary meeting and approved the revised Gyeongjikbeop. The amendment, finalized by bipartisan agreement in the committee, specifically clarifies the situations in which police officers' criminal liability reduction applies, such as "cases where serious crimes like murder, assault, rape, or domestic violence and child abuse are about to be committed or are being committed, and there is a clear and urgent risk of harm to another person's life or body."

The amendment to the Gyeongjikbeop began to be discussed following controversies over police's inadequate responses in incidents such as the November last year Incheon floor noise stabbing incident and the stalking murder case at an officetel in Jung-gu, Seoul. The relevant committee, the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, passed the amendment at the end of the same month; however, during the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's review of the system and wording, concerns about human rights violations due to potential abuse of the provisions were raised, causing the bill to be stalled once.

The passage of this amendment is expected to serve as an opportunity for police officers to carry out law enforcement more actively on site. In particular, since the situations where the reduction regulation applies have been specified, concerns about human rights violations are also expected to be alleviated to some extent.

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