[D-1 Before Enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act] Prosecution, Police, and Ministry of Employment Establish Investigation Cooperation System... Ulsan District Court Sets Up Dedicated Trial Division

[Asia Economy reporters Choi Seok-jin, legal affairs specialist, and Jo Seong-pil] Ahead of the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, the police, prosecution, and Ministry of Employment and Labor, which will be in charge of investigating serious accident cases, have been preparing to establish a cooperative investigation system.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the Ministry of Employment and Labor have discussed through the 'Working-level Council' ▲jurisdiction over investigations in the field of serious industrial accidents ▲establishment of a communication system for dedicated industrial accident investigation teams ▲plans to enhance the expertise of prosecution investigators and labor inspectors, while the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and the National Police Agency have discussed investigation cooperation measures including sharing legal review materials on serious citizen accidents.

In particular, on the 21st, these investigative agencies held an investigative agency countermeasure council meeting and set the key goals as 'prevention of serious accidents' and 'strict response to management officials who caused serious accidents by neglecting or tolerating hazardous and dangerous factors.'

They also decided to ▲operate a practical consultation council for serious accident investigations ▲establish a safety accident expert committee ▲build a nationwide cooperative system for dedicated serious accident investigation teams.

First-line investigations handled by police and Ministry of Employment and Labor... Prosecution’s coordinating role becomes crucial

Under the Serious Accident Punishment Act, serious accidents are divided into 'serious industrial accidents,' which refer to industrial accidents involving one or more deaths or two or more injuries requiring treatment for six months or longer, and 'serious citizen accidents,' which refer to deaths or injuries caused by defects in the design, manufacture, installation, or management of specific raw materials, manufactured products, public facilities, or public transportation.

Following the adjustment of investigative authority between prosecution and police, direct prosecution investigations of serious accident cases are limited to large-scale disaster crimes related to social disasters. Specifically, these include cases where deaths or property damage occur due to fire, collapse, explosion, traffic accidents, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) accidents, environmental pollution accidents, etc., requiring national or local government-level response and causing paralysis of national critical infrastructure.

Therefore, under the current legal framework, the primary investigation of most serious accident cases will be handled by the police and the Ministry of Employment and Labor. The prosecution’s coordinating role is necessary to prevent overlapping investigations and to facilitate collaboration.

Accordingly, serious industrial accident cases will be investigated by nine regional labor offices, and serious citizen accident cases will be investigated by city and provincial police agencies before being transferred to the prosecution office with jurisdiction over the accident location. The prosecution will be responsible for directing investigations, prosecution, and maintaining public prosecution for cases under labor offices, as well as prosecuting and maintaining public prosecution for cases investigated by the police and transferred to the prosecution.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to send 110 labor inspectors from regional labor offices’ metropolitan serious industrial accident management divisions to the Judicial Research and Training Institute next month to receive training on compulsory investigations and criminal law from active prosecutors and investigators.

Formation of practical investigation council among related agencies... Supreme Prosecutors' Office launches 'Serious Accident Investigation Support Task Force'

In serious accident cases, evidence clarifying the cause of accidents such as collapse and fire is often destroyed, and due to the complexity of related laws and industrial technology, communication and cooperation among multiple related agencies are essential to determine the cause and responsibility. To this end, a 'Serious Accident Case Investigation Practical Council' composed of the prosecution, Ministry of Employment and Labor, police, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, and other related agencies will be formed.

Additionally, each investigative agency will designate a 'dedicated serious accident officer' and establish a nationwide regional hotline for dedicated investigation teams to enable rapid response in the event of serious accidents.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office will establish and permanently operate a 'Safety Accident Expert Committee' by receiving recommendations of on-site safety accident experts from the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the National Police Agency.

Since launching the 'Serious Accident Punishment Act Response Task Force' in March last year, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office revised the 'Labor and Group Crime Sentencing Guidelines' in May of the same year. In October last year, it held a joint academic conference with the Labor Law Theory and Practice Association and produced a 'Penalty Commentary' on the Serious Accident Punishment Act. The penalty commentary and sentencing guidelines are being distributed to frontline prosecution offices before the law’s enforcement on the 27th.

Recently, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office launched the 'Serious Accident Investigation Support Task Force,' led by Deputy Prosecutor General Park Seong-jin, consisting of two teams: the serious industrial accident team under the Public Investigation Department and the serious citizen accident team under the Criminal Department.

With the completion of the regular prosecution personnel reshuffle, the task force plans to designate 'dedicated safety accident prosecutors' at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and frontline prosecution offices and establish a cooperative system with related agencies such as the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the police. In the recent personnel reshuffle, the Ministry of Justice decided to dispatch prosecutors Oh Jae-jun and Moon Jae-woong as prosecution researchers to the advisory body on serious accidents to be established at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to provide support.

Furthermore, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office is preparing activities to support victims, including establishing a legal aid response system and providing litigation support such as claims for damages.

In Ulsan, which has the largest industrial complex in the country and is a major hub for the manufacture, distribution, and handling of hazardous chemicals with a high frequency of serious accidents, the Ulsan District Prosecutors' Office has been designated and operating as an industrial safety-focused office since 2015.

In preparation for the law’s enforcement, the Ulsan District Prosecutors' Office held the first industrial safety council meeting last August with nine related agencies including the Busan Regional Employment and Labor Office Ulsan-Yangsan branch, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, Ulsan Metropolitan City Hall, Ulsan Eastern Fire Station, Ulsan Chemical Disaster Joint Prevention Center, and Ulsan Coast Guard.

Supreme Court establishes dedicated organization in the Court Administration Office... Ulsan District Court establishes dedicated trial division

The judiciary has also begun preparing response measures in line with the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act. The Supreme Court decided to establish a dedicated organization within the Court Administration Office covering the entire judiciary as a business unit, designating the Welfare and Benefits Officer under the Administrative Management Office as the responsible department. The newly enforced Serious Accident Punishment Act focuses on strengthening employer responsibility in the event of serious accidents such as fatal accidents. The Supreme Court’s measure reflects the judgment that the judiciary itself can also be considered an employer. A Supreme Court official stated, "We plan to establish a cooperative system with other offices within the Court Administration Office and revise operational manuals."

Courts nationwide are promoting plans to establish dedicated trial divisions. According to regulations on the composition and operation of dedicated trial divisions, such divisions can be formed for cases where ▲there is a high possibility of disputes over consistency and fairness in the conclusion of trials ▲cases requiring specialized knowledge in specific fields or with unique dispute types ▲cases with frequent occurrence of similar cases.

The Ulsan District Court has designated and will operate the Criminal Division 3 (Presiding Judge Kim Yong-hee) as the dedicated trial division for violations of the Serious Accident Punishment Act. The Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Lee Woo-cheol) of the same court will handle appeals related to violations of the Serious Accident Punishment Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

Seoul Central District Court, the largest district court in the country, is also considering establishing a dedicated trial division. A Seoul Central District Court official said, "We are carefully reviewing the trends in case filings and the expertise, consistency, and efficiency of case handling. Although a dedicated trial division has not yet been designated, we plan to finalize specific measures through the deliberation of the Office Allocation Committee based on the review results."

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