Video Testimony from Baengnyeongdo to Incheon District Court Enabled... Court to Hold Demonstration Day After Tomorrow, Use Starting Next Month

Remote video trial being conducted as a COVID-19 response measure at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The court is promoting a plan to support the installation of relay facilities at local government offices in remote or transportation-inconvenient areas where witnesses reside, to facilitate smooth witness examinations via video conferencing.

On the 28th, the Court Administration Office announced that after conducting a demonstration of video witness examination linked with Baengnyeong-myeon Office on the 30th, it will conduct an actual video witness examination for a witness in a criminal trial involving fraud charges at Baengnyeong-myeon Office on the 23rd of next month.

This measure by the court follows the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Act.

Under current law, witness examinations using internet video devices such as personal laptops are allowed in civil trials, whereas in criminal trials, only witness examinations using relay facilities with video or other relay devices are permitted.

'Relay facilities using video or other relay devices' are either directly provided by the court or requested from local government offices or other public organizations, and are currently installed in courts, detention centers, and Sunflower Centers.

In August last year, the Criminal Procedure Act was amended to add Article 165-2 (Witness Examination via Video or Other Relay Devices), paragraph 2, which states that "when the court recognizes that a witness lives in a remote or transportation-inconvenient area or has difficulty appearing in court directly due to health or other reasons, the court may conduct the examination through relay facilities using video or other relay devices after hearing the opinions of the prosecutor and the defendant or defense counsel."

Paragraph 3 of the same article stipulates that witness examinations conducted under paragraph 2 shall be regarded as if the witness appeared in court for the examination.

The Court Administration Office plans to support the installation of relay facilities using video or other relay devices at local government offices in island areas to resolve the inconvenience of witnesses residing in island regions having to appear at distant courts on the scheduled examination date and to prevent trial delays.

The court expects that video witness examinations for witnesses residing in island areas will provide various benefits, including ▲convenience for witnesses attending trials ▲prevention of trial delays due to variables such as bad weather ▲reduction of witness travel expenses incurred by long-distance travel.

The court selected Baengnyeong Island, the most populous and farthest island among the five northwestern islands, as the first region to promote video witness examinations.

It was a reality that a criminal witness residing on Baengnyeong Island needed at least two days to appear at the Incheon District Court to testify, and trial dates were highly likely to be delayed if weather conditions worsened.

The court recognized the great need to expand video trials on Baengnyeong Island and decided to install relay facilities for video witness examinations at a local government office equipped with the necessary infrastructure.

With the operation of the circular vehicle ferry currently promoted by Ongjin County Office between Baengnyeongdo, Daecheongdo, and Socheongdo, the court expects that conducting video witness examinations at the relay facility installed in Baengnyeong-myeon will be much more efficient than summoning witnesses residing in Daecheong-myeon to the Incheon District Court.

The Court Administration Office completed related business consultations with Ongjin County Office and Baengnyeong-myeon Office earlier this month and has supported the installation of relay facilities. After the demonstration on the 30th, it plans to conduct a video witness examination for a witness in an actual criminal trial held at the Incheon District Court on the 23rd of next month.

A court official stated, "If the video trial linked with Baengnyeong-myeon Office is successfully established, we plan to support the expansion of video trials to other island areas such as Ulleungdo and Heuksando."

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