Special Judicial Police? Serious Crime Investigation Agency? ... Who will take charge of corporate crime investigations amid overlapping jurisdictions?

With the launch of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency (SCIA), the corporate crime investigation system is being reorganized, making coordination of jurisdiction among investigative agencies a key challenge. The SCIA’s investigative remit overlaps with that of the Financial Supervisory Service’s special judicial police officers for capital markets. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is also pursuing the introduction of special judicial police officers to investigate technology leaks, which is expected to make the agencies responsible for investigating corporate crime even more complex.
According to legal circles and relevant authorities on the 20th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced its plan the previous day to introduce special judicial police officers for technology-leak cases at the 76th Industrial Technology Protection Committee meeting. The aim is to give ministry officials direct investigative authority so they can respond swiftly to technology-leak crimes. Earlier, on the 11th of last month, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Heo Seong-mu introduced, as lead sponsor, a bill to amend the Act on the Duties of Judicial Police Officers, granting ministry officials in grades 4 through 9 investigative authority over crimes including violations of the Industrial Technology Protection Act and the National Advanced Strategic Industries Act, as well as the illegal export of strategic goods under the Foreign Trade Act. The bill is pending before the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
The challenge lies in dividing responsibilities with existing investigative agencies. The Intellectual Property Office’s special judicial police officers currently investigate trade secret and patent infringement under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, among other offenses. The offense of violating the Industrial Technology Protection Act is not included in their current remit, which appears to be why investigative authority is being considered for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which has relevant expertise. The ministry is responsible for protecting national core technologies and advanced strategic technologies.
However, the SCIA Act also includes violations of the Industrial Technology Protection Act within a certain scope of offenses subject to major-crime investigations, creating overlapping jurisdiction. The police also have dedicated units investigating industrial technology leaks in Seoul and Gyeonggi, among other areas. When an investigation overlaps with that of another investigative agency, the SCIA may request that the case be transferred, and the agency receiving the request must comply unless it has a legitimate reason not to. Discussions on criteria for assigning and transferring cases are expected to become important after the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s special judicial police officers are established.
Overlapping jurisdiction is also expected in the area of capital-market crimes. The SCIA Act includes offenses under the Capital Markets Act among those subject to investigation, overlapping with the remit of the capital-markets special judicial police officers, which covers price manipulation, the use of nonpublic information and unfair trading. The SCIA can investigate related crimes such as embezzlement and breach of trust in addition to violations of the Capital Markets Act, while special judicial police officers are limited to investigations within the scope of their duties set by law. Large law firms therefore say it will be necessary to agree on which agency should handle cases already under investigation by the capital-markets special judicial police or in which compulsory investigative measures have begun.
Institutional mechanisms for resolving jurisdictional conflicts are not yet fully in place. The provision in the Criminal Procedure Act establishing the Investigative Jurisdiction Coordination Council will take effect next February. Until then, agencies will have to rely on interagency discussions and case-transfer procedures. Even after the council is launched, it remains unclear whether it will be able to resolve conflicts effectively when interests collide.
Lee Geun-woo, a professor of law at Gachon University, noted, “Investigative jurisdictions often overlap not only among the SCIA, the police and special judicial police officers, but also among special judicial police units themselves. This could turn into a power struggle among agencies, with the more powerful agency taking cases that might yield results.” He added, “Jurisdictional disputes arise because agencies cannot reach agreement, and I question whether a coordination body alone can resolve them. It is also worth considering having the courts decide jurisdiction.”
[email protected] Choi Eun-sol Reporter