Human Rights Commission: "Police Briefly Notified Investigation Closure... Violation of Right to Know"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has ruled that the police's failure to inform the complainant about the progress of an investigation or providing overly brief reasons for case closure constitutes a violation of the right to know.

On the 6th, the Human Rights Commission announced that it recommended job training for the investigators involved based on this ruling. The commission pointed out, "Not informing about the investigation progress is a violation of police investigation regulations," and added, "The regulation to be cautious about infringing on the suspect's rights when notifying investigation results does not mean that the content should be reduced to the extent that the complainant cannot understand."

Previously, a lawyer representing a victim of a fraud case filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, stating that the responsible police officer did not disclose any progress for about four months from the start to the closure of the investigation and did not provide specific reasons for closing the case as no charges were filed. The police station explained that due to a heavy workload, it was difficult to notify the investigation status individually, and that the investigation results were summarized briefly to avoid infringing on the suspect's reputation.

However, the Human Rights Commission held that the principle of taking care not to infringe on the reputation or rights of parties involved when notifying investigation results cannot justify providing reasons for non-prosecution so briefly that the victim or complainant cannot understand them. Furthermore, the claim that information disclosure requests could be made undermines the purpose of the Criminal Procedure Act's provision requiring notification of non-prosecution reasons to the complainant within seven days, and is considered an act that unjustly restricts rights by adding procedures that discourage the complainant's intention to appeal the investigation results.

The commission also pointed out that failing to notify the investigation progress violates the police investigation regulations, which require notifying the complainant of the investigation status within seven days after each month has passed since the investigation began, thereby infringing on the right to know. Not notifying the lawyer of the investigation results was also seen as failing to sufficiently guarantee the victim's right to legal assistance.

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