"Victims Will Bear the Burden": Concerns Raised Over Abolition of Supplementary Investigation Rights

[Anchor]

As we have just reported, this case is a prime example of how the truth was uncovered by filling the gaps in police investigations through the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights. Today, July 13, organizations supporting victims of violence against women held a joint press conference to clearly express their opposition to the complete abolition of these rights.

Reporter Ha Jeongyeon explains why they are raising their voices.

[Reporter]

In the Busan roundhouse kick assault case that occurred in 2022, the charge of serious injury was initially applied during the police investigation. However, through the prosecution's supplementary investigation and the appellate trial, it was revealed to be an attempted murder committed with the intent of sexual assault.

The victim, who visited the National Assembly today, personally appealed for the retention of supplementary investigation rights.

[Victim of the Busan roundhouse kick assault: (Police officers) are human, so there should be measures in place where if one person makes a mistake, another can supplement it...]

Six organizations supporting victims of violence against women, along with Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-hee and Progressive Party lawmaker Son Sol, held a joint press conference to express their concerns over the total abolition of supplementary investigation rights, citing the protection of victim rights as a key reason.

[Son Mun-sook, Director of the Solidarity of Counseling Centers for Violence Against Women: The process of discovering the substantive truth will be curtailed. Victims will have to secure evidence themselves, and...]

They argue that if a prosecutor's ability to collect supplementary evidence is blocked, leaving them to rely solely on documents, it will create obstacles to uncovering the truth.

Furthermore, concerns were raised that case delays could worsen. Since the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Act in 2021, the so-called adjustment of investigative powers between the police and the prosecution, the average case processing time has increased to 312.7 days, more than double what it was before the amendment.

[Choi Seon-hye, Secretary General of Korea Women's Hot Line: We hope that investigations will be conducted without unnecessary delays so that perpetrators can receive appropriate punishment.]

Pointing out that the objection system introduced five years ago alongside the police's authority to close investigations has proven ineffective, they stated:

[Byeon Eun-hee, Director of the Sexual Violence Counseling Center at Korean Women with Disabilities United: Due to a lack of information and understanding regarding the objection procedure, as well as distrust, the rate of objections has not even reached 30 percent. It has been confirmed that the objection system adds to the burden on victims and lacks practical effectiveness.]

They argued that the expansion of the objection system, which is being pushed by the ruling party as a measure to accompany the total abolition of supplementary investigation rights, is insufficient as an alternative, and emphasized the need for oversight of police investigations.

[Jeon Da-un, Lawyer at the Women's Human Rights Committee of Minbyun - Lawyers for a Democratic Society: Police investigations must be thoroughly controlled through the prosecutor's investigative direction, supplementary investigation rights, and the system of transferring all cases.]

The organizations supporting victims of violence against women questioned whether the currently discussed amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act would truly realize the rights of victims, emphasizing that this issue must be viewed from the perspective of the socially vulnerable.

(Reported by Oh Young-chun, Lee Seung-hwan, and Kim Yong-woo | Video edited by Jang Hyun-ki | Designed by Jang Chae-woo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.