SCIA, police likely to face friction over unclear jurisdiction

This will let Google show Yonhap news articles that match or are related to your search

SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- The freshly launched agency dedicated to investigating "major crimes" may be headed for a turf war with the police due to a still unclear line between their jurisdictions, observers said Thursday.

The new Serious Crime Investigation Agency (SCIA) set sail at the start of this month under a recent revision to the Criminal Procedure Act that effectively dismantled the previous prosecution system, leaving the prosecution with only the right to indict and maintain indictments against criminals.

The right to investigate has been split between the SCIA and the police, with the SCIA tasked with investigating seven major crimes.

The revision defines such crimes as those related to corruption, business and economy, defense procurement, narcotics, national security, cybercrimes and distortion of the law, but there still exists ambiguity, such as what constitutes a "major" crime or should the SCIA be required, if not allowed, to investigate what may be considered petty crimes if related to corruption, narcotics or any other crimes stated in the law.

Also, the police, which have already been investigating all such major crimes and possess extensive personnel and infrastructure, will unlikely be willing to give up their right to investigate, the observers note.

Apparently anticipating such problems, the revised law requires the establishment of an Investigation Jurisdiction Coordination Committee that will clarify scopes of investigation for the two agencies.

The committee, however, is set to be created only after Feb. 5, leaving the SCIA and police to rely on voluntary consultations to prevent any possible confrontation at least for the next three months, according to the local observers.

Ko Beom-seok, commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, earlier said the police will keep a close watch "so that such areas of concern do not become a reality."

"We will closely cooperate with the SCIA to minimize confusion after the agency's launch," he has said.

The Serious Crime Investigation Agency (Yonhap)

yusbvtyhtoo@yna.co.kr (END)

(2nd LD) S. Korea launches scaled-down prosecution, new investigation agency in major reform

SCIA, police likely to face friction over unclear jurisdiction

这将使谷歌能够向您展示与您的搜索匹配或相关的韩联社新闻文章。

首尔，10月8日（韩联社）——观察人士周四表示，新成立的专门负责调查“重大犯罪”的机构可能正与警方展开一场地盘之争，因为两者的管辖范围界限仍然不明确。

根据最近对《刑事诉讼法》的修订，新的严重犯罪调查局（SCIA）于本月初正式成立。该修订有效地解散了之前的检控制度，使检控机关仅保留了对犯罪分子提起公诉和维持公诉的权利。

调查权在刑事调查局 (SCIA) 和警方之间分配，其中刑事调查局负责调查七起重大犯罪案件。

修订后的法案将此类犯罪定义为与腐败、商业和经济、国防采购、毒品、国家安全、网络犯罪和歪曲法律有关的犯罪，但仍然存在一些模糊之处，例如什么构成“重大”犯罪，或者如果与腐败、毒品或法律规定的任何其他犯罪有关，是否应该要求（如果不允许）最高刑事调查局调查可能被视为轻微犯罪的案件。

观察人士指出，警方已经对所有此类重大犯罪进行了调查，并且拥有大量人员和基础设施，不太可能愿意放弃他们的调查权。

显然预料到了这些问题，修订后的法律要求成立一个调查管辖权协调委员会，以明确两个机构的调查范围。

然而，据当地观察人士称，该委员会要到 2 月 5 日之后才会成立，这意味着至少在接下来的三个月里，SCIA 和警方只能依靠自愿协商来防止任何可能的冲突。

首尔地方警察厅厅长高范锡此前表示，警方将密切关注“此类令人担忧的地区，以防止它们成为现实”。

他曾表示：“我们将与SCIA密切合作，以尽量减少该机构成立后的混乱。”

严重犯罪调查厅（韩联社）

yusbvtyhtoo@yna.co.kr (完)

（第二条）韩国推出缩减规模的检察机关和新的调查机构，进行重大改革

SCIA和警方可能因管辖权不明确而面临摩擦。