Measures to Protect the Victim’s Human Rights During Trial
Judgment Benches Exclusively for Crimes of Sexual Violence- Unless exceptional circumstances occur, the chief judge of a district court or High Court shall designate a judgment bench exclusively taking charge of sexual violence trials (Article 28 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, Etc. of Sexual Crimes).
Non-Disclosure of the Hearing of a Trial- The trial hearing may be determined confidential to protect the privacy of the victim of sexual violence (Article 31, paragraph 1 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, Etc. of Sexual Crimes).
- For privacy protection, the victim of sexual violence and the victim’s family summoned as witnesses may request the witness examination to be confidential (Article 31, paragraph 2 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, Etc. of Sexual Crimes).
Witness Examination by the Repeater Equipment- Suppose the court interrogates the following victims of sexual violence as witnesses. In this case, the court may ask for the opinion of the prosecutor, defendant, or attorney to interrogate the witness through the repeater equipment (Article 40, paragraph 1 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, Etc. of Sexual Crimes).
· Victims of rape and attempted rape, analogous rape and attempted analogous rape, compulsory molestation and attempted compulsory molestation, quasi-rape, quasi-compulsory molestation, and its attempt, crimes of injuries by assault and rape, murder and fatal injury by rape, adultery to a minor, etc., adultery by exerting one’s occupational power, adultery and molestation of a minor (Article 2, paragraph 1, subparagraph 3 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, Etc. of Sexual Crimes).
· Victims of burglary rape (Article 2, paragraph 1, subparagraph 4 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, Etc. of Sexual Crimes)
· Victims of special burglary rape and its attempt, committed and attempted special rape, etc., committed and attempted rape by relatives, rape and compulsory molestation, or attempting such crimes to persons with disabilities, committing or attempting rape and compulsory molestation of minors under the age of 13, incurring and attempting injuries by assault and rape, incurring and attempting murder and fatal injuries by rape, etc., molestation by one’s occupational power, molestation in crowded public places, intruding in public places for sexual purposes, lewd act through communication media, filming or attempting to film another person by camera, etc. (Articles 3 to 15 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, Etc. of Sexual Crimes)
Participation of the Statement Assistant- Suppose the victim of sexual violence is under the age of 13 or has difficulty expressing thoughts due to a physical or mental disorder. In this case, the court shall have the statement assistant participate witness examination for interpretation or mediation by his/her official authority or upon the application of the prosecutor, victim, the victim’s legal representative, or attorney (Article 37, paragraph 1 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, Etc. of Sexual Crimes).
Utilizing the Video as Evidence- Suppose the victim of sexual violence filmed on video has difficulty expressing thoughts due to a physical or mental disorder. In this case, the victim’s statement shall be acknowledged as evidence when the statement of the victim, the victim's reliable acquaintance or statement assistant has proved the evidence to be true during the trial preparation date or trial date (Article 30, paragraphs 1 and 6 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, Etc. of Sexual Crimes).
Claim for Evidence Preservation- Suppose the victim ofsexual violence has a serious reason not to appear in court and testify on the trial date. In this case, the victim of sexual violence, the victim’s legal representative, or police officer may explain the reason and ask the prosecutor in charge of the case investigation to preserve the evidence in regard to a video recording or other proofs (former part of Article 41, paragraph 1 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, Etc. of Sexual Crimes).