국가수사본부의 독립성 - 사법경찰과 행정경찰의 분리를 중심으로 -

Abstract

This article examines key police reform act, “The Act on the Organization and Operation of National and Municipal Police”(Police Act), focusing on the issue of independence of National Office of Investigation(NOI). The Police Act was completely revised and came into effect in January 2021. In accordance with it, NOI was established and some investigative authorities are transferred to the municipal police, responding to the concerns over the escalation of police power as consequences of the reform of the Prosecution Office and the National Intelligence Service. Compared to the increased police power, however, the Police Act does not contain enough institutional devices to guarantee the independence of NOI. The introduction of NOI was intended to ‘separate the judicial police from the administrative’ in order to prevent the power concentration of the National Police Agency (NPA), that is, to prohibit the administrative police from intervening in investigations. In spite of the intention, the independence of NOI is not sufficiently implemented into this Act. The main problem is that the NOI is still under the ‘substantial command and control’ of the chief of NPA. As its instruments, the superior administrative police officers have the commanding authorities over their investigation agents, and the police still uses investigation reporting system for the police administration. And what is worse, through NOI, the administrative police has command and control over the investigations of the municipal police. As a conclusion, it is suggested that the NOI need to be separated from NPA and reorganized into a new national-wide independent investigation body by absorbing the investigative personnel of the prosecution to ensure the independence and fairness of the investigation. To prevent from power concentration into this independent investigation body, the National Committee for effective control of this body should be introduced and the investigative authorities be materially transferred to the municipal police.