The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission: "Police Delay in Requesting Supplementary Investigations from Prosecutors is Inappropriate"

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) has determined that the police's delay in investigation without justifiable reason after receiving a request for supplementary investigation from the prosecution is inappropriate.

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the 31st, the ACRC stated that if a prosecutor requests a supplementary investigation regarding a complaint case, the police officer must promptly carry it out and notify the prosecutor of the results without delay.

According to the ACRC, complainant Mr. A filed a complaint against Mr. B in February 2017 on charges including fraud. The responsible police officer investigated the case and forwarded it to the prosecution. The prosecutor requested supplementary investigations from the police twice, in November 2021 and January of last year. However, the responsible police officer delayed the investigation for about one year and five months without any special reason. Consequently, Mr. A filed a grievance complaint with the ACRC in May, stating that "the responsible police officer is neglecting the case."

The ACRC's investigation revealed that the responsible police officer did not conduct any investigation for about two months after the first supplementary investigation request from the prosecutor and about six months after the second request. It was also found that no investigation reports or related communications regarding the delay in supplementary investigation were made.

Under the current Criminal Procedure Act, to prevent unjustified delays in investigations and protect the rights of complainants, judicial police officers are required to promptly comply with the prosecutor's request for supplementary investigation unless there is a justifiable reason, and notify the prosecutor of the results.

Kim Taegyu, Vice Chairman of the ACRC, said, "Swiftly handling cases and clearly informing complainants of the progress is very important for protecting their rights," adding, "Active measures by the police are necessary to promptly revise related regulations, including specifying the processing period for cases involving prosecutors' requests for supplementary investigations."

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