A police station in North Gyeongsang Province is under fire for posting a notice that mentions restrictions on legal counsel during the interrogation of certain suspects.
The notice regarding the system for legal counsel participation during suspect interrogations at the Sangju Police Station in North Gyeongsang Province explicitly lists "violations of the National Security Act" and "cases involving organized crime, drugs, and terrorism" as instances where a lawyer's participation can be restricted.
The notice also specified "cases deemed likely to facilitate evidence destruction or the flight of accomplices, or to have a significant impact on the investigation and trial of related cases" as subject to restrictions.
However, according to the Criminal Procedure Act, judicial police officers cannot restrict a lawyer's participation during an interrogation without justifiable grounds upon the request of the suspect or their legal counsel.
This also has the potential to conflict with the right to the assistance of counsel guaranteed by the Constitution.
Article 12, Paragraph 4 of the Constitution stipulates that anyone who is arrested or detained has the right to receive immediate assistance from counsel.
The wording in the Sangju Police Station's notice is presumed to contain the contents of guidelines from 1999, when the police first introduced the system for legal counsel participation during suspect interrogations.
At the time, the National Police Agency's "Guidelines for Legal Counsel Participation During Suspect Interrogations" allowed the heads of police offices to restrict a lawyer's participation in violations of the National Security Act, organized crime, drug, and terrorism cases, as well as cases with concerns of evidence destruction or flight.
Following decisions by the Constitutional Court and other developments, the right to legal counsel participation was codified into the Criminal Procedure Act in 2007.
The Sangju Police Station explained, "We removed the problematic notice as soon as we became aware of it," adding, "We were simply unaware of the notice posted in the past, and we have never guided anyone to have meeting restrictions or actually restricted meetings when explaining things to parties involved in cases."
The legal community took immediate protest action, such as sending an official letter requesting corrective measures to the Sangju Police Station regarding this incident.
It is reported that the president and leadership council of the Seoul Bar Association will visit the Sangju Police Station in protest on September 16 to verify whether the problematic notice has been removed and to discuss future response measures, including corrective actions.
(Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Jung Yong-hee | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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