수사절차상 장애인 피의자 보호규정의 문제점과 개선방안

Abstract

In the investigation process, disabled suspects have various vulnerability and they have much more difficulties than the normal suspects. And accordingly, regulations to protect the rights of the disabled suspects are established in the Criminal Procedure code, the law of prohibition of discrimination of the disabled and instructions in the National Police Agency and Ministry of Justice. Objective of this study is to identify the current situations and problems of these regulations and subsequently to suggest the alternatives. Problems of the regulations to protect the disabled suspects can be summarized as three types. Problems are first is the absence of identification procedures of disability before the investigation, second problem is the sitting together with the trusted person concerned based on the discretion of the investigative agency, execution of interpretation and limited subjects based on the discretion of the investigative agency. As the alternatives to solve these problems, identification of the disability of arrestee or suspect in the interrogation stage should be confirmed first and if they are identified as the disabled, their rights in the investigation procedures for the disabled were suggested to be notified. Second is a suggestion that the trusted person concerned should attend in the investigation procedures by amending the article 244 and clause 5 in the Criminal Procedure Code where the trusted person concerned could attend by the random decision of the investigative agency. Third, by improving the current regulation where only the visually disabled and hearing disabled are limited to have interpretation and the interpretation is executed by the discretion of the investigative agency, the obligation was suggested that the interpretation should be extended to the all disabled including mentally disabled who are difficult to testify as well as visually disabled and hearing disabled people. Fourth, in order to settle down the above amendment alternatives more solidly, video recording of interrogation procedures in the investigation procedures of disabled suspects and appointment of public defender for disabled suspects were suggested as additional alternatives.