Over 100 Unresolved Cases Directly Investigated by Prosecution Service to Be Transferred to Police; Supplementary Investigation Requests to Follow

[Financial News] As part of the reform of the criminal justice system, more than 100 unresolved cases that the Prosecution Service had been directly investigating will be transferred to the police. As authorities wind down work left after prosecutors' direct investigative powers were abolished, the police are absorbing in large numbers not only direct-investigation cases initiated by the Prosecution Service, but also requests for supplementary investigations into transferred cases without final dispositions and wanted-person cases.
According to justice authorities on the 5th, the police and the Prosecution Service agreed to transfer to the police more than 100 direct-investigation cases that would be difficult to conclude within the 90-day transition period.
Under the new system, prosecutors' direct investigations are generally prohibited. However, exceptional investigations are permitted for up to 90 days when unavoidable circumstances exist, such as an approaching statute of limitations. More than 100 cases deemed impossible to conclude within 90 days will be sent to the jurisdictional frontline police stations. The police plan to reassign them to station investigation teams or metropolitan investigation units at provincial and metropolitan police agencies based on the seriousness and nature of each case. The actual transfers are expected to gain momentum from the 6th, immediately after the holiday period.
In addition, requests for supplementary investigations into cases that the police had already transferred to the Prosecution Service, but for which the Prosecution Service was unable to issue final dispositions, will be received sequentially. Separately, about 2,000 wanted-person cases formerly managed by the Prosecution Service have already been fully handed over to the police. In most cases, the police have had the warrants reissued and completed the transition to their own wanted-person system.
By contrast, no cases involving police investigations have yet been transferred to the Serious Crime Investigation Agency (SCIA), and the two agencies are still discussing the transfer procedures.
The concern, however, is that frontline police investigators may be overburdened. As of August this year, 46,793 cases had remained open for three months or more across the nation's 262 police stations, while 6,871 cases had remained open for six months or more. If supplementary-investigation cases, for which results must in principle be reported within one month of receiving a request, are added to the workload, investigative delays and the burden on investigators could inevitably worsen.
To prevent excessive workloads, the police asked the Prosecution Service to distribute supplementary-investigation requests. They also plan to designate investigation cooperation units at provincial and metropolitan police agencies as dedicated departments to closely monitor implementation.
[email protected] Lee Chang-hoon Reporter