Police Strengthen Inquiry Bans on Cases, Expanding Scope to Include Unretained Lawyers and Law Firm Managers

In an effort to enhance the fairness and accountability of investigations, the police plan to enshrine the "case inquiry ban system" into police regulations while expanding the scope of prohibitions and reporting requirements from just "among police staff" to outsiders such as lawyers who have not submitted a notice of representation and law firm managers.

The Korean National Police Agency announced today (August 20) that it held the third meeting of the "Task Force for Follow-up Measures on the Revised Criminal Procedure Act" to discuss measures to block inquiries and requests regarding cases.

First, the police decided to codify the case inquiry ban system, which had previously been operated as an internal guideline, into the "Code of Conduct for Police Officials."

The police prohibited employees belonging to the National Police Agency from making inquiries about cases and mandated that investigators who receive such inquiries report them to the local agency's audit and inspection officer.

Police officers who inquire about cases, as well as those who receive inquiries but fail to report them, will be subject to disciplinary action.

The scope of the case inquiry ban will also be expanded from existing staff-to-staff interactions to external individuals related to cases, such as lawyers who have not submitted a notice of representation and law firm managers.

When an unretained lawyer inquires about a case, relevant materials will be notified to the Korean Bar Association. For law firm managers and others, the details and circumstances of the inquiry will be verified to review whether they constitute "improper solicitation" under the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.

The police also plan to establish separate disciplinary sentencing standards in the "Detailed Enforcement Rules of the Police Official Disciplinary Decree" by subdividing punishment criteria according to violation types, such as police officers who inquire about cases, police officers who provide information, police officers who leak general case information, and police officers who violate reporting obligations.

To prevent inappropriate contact with retired police officers and others, the "private contact ban system" will also be overhauled.

The private contact ban targets, which were previously regulated as guidelines, will be codified into the code of conduct, and standards such as the locations and methods for necessary contacts in the line of duty will be specified.

The targets of the contact ban include individuals connected to establishments where illegal acts such as prostitution, gambling, and illegal speculative acts take place, as well as case parties such as suspects, victims, complainants, accusers, and defense counsel.

Violations of the private contact prohibition duty will also be established as a separate type of misconduct to formulate disciplinary standards.

The police plan to brief front-line units on the reorganization details next month and implement the expanded system starting in October after revising the regulations.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.