피해자의 관점에서 바라본 수사권 조정의 문제점

초록

The revision of the Criminal Procedure Act and the Prosecutor s Office Act brought forth many changes in the Korean investigative processes. The most significant changes applicable to the victims are as follows: First, the scope of crimes directly investigated by the prosecutor s office, which had traditionally encompassed the entire span of criminal acts included in the Korean criminal law, has reduced to the following three areas: (1) the six kinds of serious crimes , including corruptions, set forth by presidential decrees; (2) crimes committed by police officers; and (3) crimes directly related to the serious crimes and crimes committed by police officers delineated by the previous two items, and crimes sent by judicial police officers. Second, the prosecutor no longer holds the comprehensive authority to command criminal investigations, unlike the previous system, in which the prosecutors held the authority to command judicial police officers belonging to the National Police Agency during criminal investigations. Third, when the judicial officers do not recognize a valid criminal charge, the officers may now issue primary terminations of criminal investigations without forwarding the case to the prosecutor, who had traditionally held the sole authority to terminate investigations. The above revisions pose significant problems in that they fail to recognize the systematic compromise to the rights of victims, and the detrimental effects of these revisions have already begun surfacing. This article explores the Reapportionment of Investigative Authority of 2020 from the perspective of the victims, and proposes applicable solutions to challenges set forth by the new system.

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