2023년 개정 「검사와 사법경찰관의 상호협력과 일반적 수사준칙에 관한 규정」에 대한 비판적 검토

Abstract

The Criminal Procedure Act and the Prosecution Service Act, which contain the contents of the reformation of criminal investigation system, and the presidential decree on the mutual cooperation between prosecutors and judicial police officers and general investigative principles, were implemented together on January 1, 2021. In order to alleviate the inconvenience to the people caused by delays and deficiencies in investigations by the prosecution and the police, a presidential decree was revised as a national task based on the presidential pledge in 2023. The revised presidential decree specify the obligation to accept complaints and accusations and set the the deadlines for investigation from complainst and accusations, supplementary investigations and re-investigation. However, it is skeptical whether these regulations can be realized in practice without expanding investigative infrastructure. In order to allocate investigation work loads properly between the prosecution and the police, the regulation that the prosecutor should request supplementary investigations to the police as a principle was abolished, and criteria were established for the prosecutor to conduct supplementary investigations by themselves. However, the specificity and practical suitability of these criteria seem to be lacking. The revised decree expand the prosecutor's authority to request the transfer of cases in order to prevent cases with criminal suspicions from evading punishment. This can be criticized for nullifying the police's authority to conclude investigations as stipulated in the revised Criminal Procedure Act. At the same time, there is also a concern that it may infringe on the legal stability of citizens without criminal suspicions. Expanding the prosecutor's power to request the transfer of a case should be reevaluated in the future by confirming the final decision of the prosecutor.