[Insight & Opinion] "Truck Prosecution" That Wastes Time and Money

The Result of Prosecutors' Diligence?
Difficulties in Reviewing Records Restrict the Right to Defense
Trials Often Stagnate Due to Overwhelming Evidence Files

The volume of case records prosecuted by the prosecution is increasing over time. Cases exceeding 100,000 pages often occur, and there are even cases reaching 200,000 pages, weighing up to 1 ton. In the legal community, submitting such an enormous amount of investigation records to the court, requiring transportation by truck, is called a "truck prosecution."

One might argue that "truck prosecution" is the result of prosecutors' diligent investigation, so why criticize it? However, in judicial reality, it restricts the defendant's right to defense and fosters judicial distrust, such as the perception of "justice for the rich, injustice for the poor," causing significant harm.

For a defendant to contest guilt or innocence during the trial process, they must thoroughly review the evidence records before the trial date. However, in "truck prosecution" cases, merely accessing and copying the records requires enormous costs and time. It is common for defendants or their lawyers to fail to copy or review the records in time, leading to postponements or stagnation of the trial.

It is nearly impossible for just one or two lawyers to defend a "truck prosecution case." A lawyer who used to be a judge was once asked by a close acquaintance, a high-ranking public official, to take on a defense due to an unfair situation. However, since the lawyer operated a legal office with only one or two employed lawyers and could not suspend other work, reviewing hundreds of thousands of pages of records was impossible, and they had no choice but to decline. This actually happened in Seocho-dong.

Last year, the National Assembly enacted the "Act on the Use of Electronic Documents in Criminal Justice Procedures," which will be implemented starting in 2024. However, this law only reduces the cost and time required to access and copy records and does not solve the fundamental problem that defendants or lawyers must review tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of pages of records.

The evidentiary power of prosecutor-prepared statements has been limited by amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act. Nevertheless, investigations still take place for long hours from morning until late at night, producing statements that run into hundreds of pages. A significant portion of the investigation time is spent creating and reviewing these statements, often repeated multiple times over several days. Those being investigated find this extremely exhausting and inconvenient.

I still vividly recall when, during my time as a special division prosecutor, the deputy chief prosecutor pointed out that I was making the records too voluminous and said, "You must not carelessly include materials without evidentiary power or value in the records. A prosecutor who makes concise statements and compact records is a good investigator." That is how I was taught, and it was the tradition of the special division.

"Truck prosecution" is a very backward practice that does not align with global standards and may infringe upon the constitutional right of citizens to a speedy trial.

President Yoon Suk-yeol appointed Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon as the right person to "reform the judicial system to meet global standards." Furthermore, the leadership of the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and frontline district prosecutors' offices is composed of top investigators. They have sufficient capability to perform their fundamental role of eradicating corruption while establishing investigative methods that align with global standards. We look forward to seeing a commendable prosecution that considers those under investigation.

Kim Ki-dong, Chief Attorney at Law, Law Firm Robaex

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