Delayed Case Handling and Growing Trial Confusion

[Anchor]

It has been one month since the implementation of the new Criminal Procedure Act, which focuses on abolishing the Prosecutors' Office and establishing the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the Prosecution Service. We examined the new system, and anticipated problems such as delays in case handling are actually emerging.

Reporter Dong Eunyeong has the details.

[Reporter]

What exactly is an "investigation"?

While various answers can be given, from a legal perspective, an investigation refers to the work of collecting evidence to be used in criminal trials.

Therefore, the abolition of prosecutors' investigative powers, which is the core of the new Criminal Procedure Act, means that prosecutors are no longer allowed to collect evidence.

However, after a month of implementation, critics point out that problems have arisen precisely because of this point.

These can be summarized into three main issues: delays in case handling, an increase in rejected warrants, and confusion during trial processes.

First is the delay in case handling.

With the abolition of the Prosecutors' Office and the launch of the Prosecution Service, requests for supplementary investigations have surged.

Prosecutors who receive cases forwarded from the police cannot immediately decide whether to indict, leading to an increase in the frequency of requesting the police to conduct supplementary investigations.

For instance, in a situation where a prosecutor must decide whether to apply the charge of night-time residential burglary, if the case record lacks information on the sunset time, in the past, a prosecutor would verify the sunset time, add it to the record, and then indict.

Now, however, even adding the sunset time is considered evidence collection, so a supplementary investigation request must be made.

This happens because even evidence that prosecutors would have directly collected in the past must now be secured through requests for supplementary investigations.

As a result, the number of supplementary investigation requests over the past month has increased by more than 35% compared to the monthly average last year, inevitably delaying case processing.

An increase in rejected warrants is also appearing.

During the first month following the implementation of the new Criminal Procedure Act, cases where prosecutors rejected warrants requested by the police have increased, which is also believed to be because prosecutors cannot directly collect evidence and thus must request supplements from the police.

The trial process is also facing confusion.

Previously, victims could submit evidence to trial prosecutors during the trial process, but now the prevailing interpretation is that prosecutors cannot accept such evidence either, leaving victims confused about where they should submit their evidence.

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