Supreme Court: "Cannot Accept General Indictment Without Specific Time of Crime"

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The Supreme Court has ruled that an indictment by the prosecution that fails to specify the date, location, or method of the crime cannot be accepted.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Min Yoo-sook) announced on the 22nd that it overturned the original ruling which sentenced Mr. A (63), who was charged with violating the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, to 8 months in prison with a 2-year probation, and remanded the case to the Uijeongbu District Court.

Mr. A was prosecuted on charges of handing over his own check card and password to an unidentified person between November 4 and 15, 2018.

The issue arose because the indictment prepared by the prosecution when bringing Mr. A to trial failed to specify the date and location of the crime, the recipient of the check card, and the method of transfer.

However, the first and second trials sentenced Mr. A to imprisonment, stating that the card he handed over was used by a voice phishing organization.

On the other hand, the Supreme Court found it difficult to consider that the prosecution's specified facts in the indictment were sufficiently specific to not hinder Mr. A's exercise of the right to defense.

The court stated, "If there is no unavoidable circumstance that makes it impossible to specify the date and place of the crime, but the indictment is excessively generalized for convenience, thereby effectively hindering the defendant's right to defense, it cannot be considered an indictment containing specific criminal facts as prescribed by the Criminal Procedure Act."

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