Accusation or Filing a Complaint
Definition of Accusation/Filing a Complaint
- “Accusation or filing a complaint” refers to a person expressing his/her intention for the investigation agency to penalize the assailant by reporting (Collection of Legal Terms and Cases, By the Ministry of Government Legislation and Korea Legislation Research Institute, 2003).
Person Entitled to File a Complaint
- Persons falling under any of the following cases of violence or injury hold a right to file a complaint to the investigation agency.
· Victim (Article 223 of the Criminal Act)
· The victim’s legal representative (Article 225, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Procedure Act)
· If the victim has passed away, the victim’s spouse, lineal relatives, or siblings (Article 225, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Procedure Act)
· The victim’s relatives, if the victim’s legal representative or the relatives of the victim’s legal representative is the suspect (Article 226 of the Criminal Procedure Act)
- The legal representative may file a complaint on behalf of the victim (Article 236 of the Criminal Procedure Act).
Procedure of Accusation/Filing a Complaint
- A person may file a complaint by submitting a letter of complaint to the prosecutor or judicial police officer, or orally in front of the prosecutor or judicial police officer. In this case, the judicial police officer shall promptly look into the filed complaint and send related documents and evidence to the prosecutor (Article 237, paragraph 1, and Article 238 of the Criminal Procedure Act).
- The judicial police officer may submit evidential data, medical certificate, etc., to prove that the victim suffered violence or injury.
※ The “judicial police officer” refers to the deputy assistant commissioner, senior superintendent, chief superintendent, and lieutenant; the “judicial police assistant” refers to the police sergeant, police corporal, and police constable (Article 197, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Criminal Procedure Act).
※ For samples of how to fill out a letter of complaint (report), click
[Here].
※ Definition of Mutual Accusation
Assailants of violence or injury are not the cause of the violence or injury but the ones who committed violence or injury. Therefore, both parties are both an assailant and a victim in most cases. In such cases, both parties may accuse the other party and file a complaint. So, the parties “mutually accuse” each other.
Pressing Charges
Definition of Pressing Charges
- “Pressing charges” refers to a person not entitled to file a complaint reporting a crime to the inspection agency to express his/her intention for impeachment. Any person who suspects another person of having committed a crime is eligible to press charges.
- However, a person shall not press charges against the lineal ascendant of the principal himself/herself or his/her spouse.
How to Press Charges
- A person may press charges by submitting a bill of indictment to the prosecutor or judicial police officer, or orally in front of the prosecutor or judicial police officer. In this case, the judicial police officer shall promptly look into the filed bill of indictment and send related documents and evidence to the prosecutor (Article 237, paragraph 1 and Article 238 of the Criminal Procedure Act).
Precautions when Filing Complaints and Pressing Charges
False accusation
- Definition of false accusation
· “False accusation” refers to a person falsely accusing another person to the public office or a public official for the innocent person to be penalized with criminal punishment or a disciplinary action (Collection of Legal Terms and Cases, By the Ministry of Government Legislation and Korea Legislation Research Institute, 2003).
· There are no inquiries on procedures of reporting false accusation, since false accusation primarily aims at inducing the reporter to tell the truth by his/her own will.
- Penalties of false accusation, etc.
· Suppose a person falsely accused another person to the public office or a public official for the innocent person to be penalized with criminal punishment or a disciplinary action. In this case, the person shall be sentenced to up to ten years of imprisonment or fined up to KRW 15 million (Article 156 of the Criminal Act).
· Suppose a person falsely accuses another person of having committed a crime under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, Etc. of Specific Crimes. In this case, the reporter shall be sentenced to up to three years of imprisonment for a limited term (Article 14 of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, Etc. of Specific Crimes).
· However, suppose a person who falsely accused another person voluntarily surrenders or confesses before the confirmation of the trial decision or disciplinary action. In this case, the person’s sentence may be mitigated or exempt (Article 157 of the Criminal Act).
Dismissal of the Declaration of Will for Penalty
- For cases that prohibit punishing the assailant against the victim’s will, such as the crime of simple violence and the crime of lineal ascendant violence, the declaration of the victim’s intention for penalty may be withdrawn before the assailant is sentenced in the first trial’s ruling. Once the victim withdraws his/her intention for the penalty, he/she shall not file a suit for the case again (Article 232, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Procedure Act).
※ According to the victim’s will, the state punishment power may or may not apply to the crime not prosecuted against objection and the crime subject to the victim’s complaint. However, for the crime not prosecuted against objection, the prosecution may be filed to a higher court without filing a complaint, which makes it different from the crime subject to the victim’s complaint.