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Arrest and Detention under the Criminal Procedure Act of North Korea

  • DONG-A LAW REVIEW
  • 2016, (70), pp.189-221
  • Publisher : The Institute for Legal Studies Dong-A University
  • Research Area : Social Science > Law

Lee, Baek-Gyu 1

1김앤장 법률사무소

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ABSTRACT

Chapter 4, Section 4 of the Criminal Procedure Act of North Korea prescribes about arrest and detention. Arrest and detention are compulsory disposition against human body. Such compulsory disposition is executed at a prosecutor’s sole discretion. In other words, arrest and detention can be executed only by a prosecutor’s approval and the court warrant system is not adopted. Accordingly, systems for reviewing the legality of detention, requesting bail, etc. are not in place. In principle, arrest and detention shall be executed by ye-sim-won at the investigation (ye-sim) stage (Article 175). Ye-sim-won shall make a decision on whether to question the criminal responsibility of a criminal prior to the execution of arrest/detention (Article 177). In principle, arrest and detention may be executed if a criminal who is acknowledged to have committed a crime subject to a limited-term correctional labor (yu-gi-ro-dong-gyo-hwa-hyeong) or heavier punishment is likely to either avoid ye-sim/trial or obstruct investigation into a criminal case (Article 178). An arrest warrant shall be issued by a prosecutor so as to arrest a criminal (Article 180). In case of emergency, an investigative agency (su-sa-won) may also arrest a criminal subject to investigation without obtaining a prosecutor’s approval (Article 142). This is the case with flagrant offenders, etc. In case of such emergency arrest, an investigative agency shall prepare a written decision on imprisonment within 48 hours, obtain approval therefor from a prosecutor, conduct investigation within 10 days and refer the case to the court of preliminary trial (Article 143). Detention is classified into penal detention, house detention and area detention and ye-sim-won shall prepare a written decision on detention and obtain approval therefor from a prosecutor (Articles 183 through 185). The detention period is (i) 10 days at the investigation stage, (ii) up to 5 months at the ye-sim stage, (iii) up to 15 days at the prosecution stage, (iv) 25 days at the first trial stage and (v) 25 days at the second trial stage (Articles 143, 186, 187, 262, 281 and 365). As such, detention for a long period of time is granted at the investigation stage in North Korea, which differs from the detention system of South Korea.

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