The) North Korean Penal Code, Criminal Procedures, and Their Real Applications / By Kim, Soo-Am. The North Korean human rights issue became a focal point of international concern in the 1990s in the wake of the well-known economic hardship.
Attitude toward Law
Socialist laws are weapons for the dictatorship of the proletariat, which is the will of the working class and the working masses. Therefore, they must be interpreted and implemented from the perspective of the Party and the working class. 6.
Changing Attitude toward Penal Code
However, the basic framework of the law as a political tool to protect national sovereignty and the socialist system has been firmly preserved. 8. 8 Although the Penal Code was revised in 1999, the "mission" of the 1987 Penal Code was preserved in the text.
Attitudes toward Crime and Punishment, and Principles of Penal Disposition
Institutions
Penal Institutions and Officers of the Court
For example, Article 4, which stated: "The courts shall actively strive to oppose all class enemies and all offenses, and contribute to the achievement of the historic task of covering the entire society uniformly with the great Juche ideology", was deleted in the 1998 version. But Article 156, which states: "Courts should actively strive in opposition to all class enemies and lawbreakers," is still retained in the 1998 socialist constitution. North Korea has defined the job of lawyers as workers who "shall strive to protect KWP policies; and as supporters of party policies, they have a duty to enlighten the people and justify the various policies of the party in the process of court hearings and trials." The lawyer's duty, it is said, is to "point out the seriousness of the crime committed and make the perpetrator (defendant) deeply repent of his actions to the people and the fatherland by deeply analyzing and clearly proving the perpetrator's motives for the crime." So the underlying idea is that the lawyers are not necessarily the defendant's representative, nor are they in the protection of the defendant's rights.15 However, the revised Socialist Constitution of 1998 in Article 158 clearly provides the defendant's rights to a lawyer; namely, "The the defendant's right to a lawyer must be guaranteed." In addition, a separate "lawyer law" clarifies specific roles that lawyers must play within the Criminal Procedure Code and ensures the smooth operation of the lawyer system.
16Cho Byung-cheon, “The Position of Lawyers in the Criminal Trials of the Republic,” Kim Il-sung University Campus Paper,” History and Laws, vol.
Quasi-Penal Systems
At the headquarters of the party, the committee consists of the secretary of the party, the director of the management department of the party's organizations, the MPA, the SSA, the chief justice of the central court and the chief prosecutor of the central prosecutor's office. Security committees exist at all levels of administrative units, and the party secretary of the area bears all responsibility as a committee. The main mission of the chair is to receive instructions from the KWP in relation to social security matters, control and manage the roles and functions of judicial organizations, and ensure the uniformity and consistency of judicial activities.
The commissions at the Party levels are directed to exercise proper control over various projects, to strictly direct and control all social security activities of judicial and prosecution bodies by routinely discussing social security projects and judicial prosecution projects. 18.
Investigations, Preliminary Examination, and Indictment
And the investigator who has discovered a suspect in a criminal case must submit the case to a preliminary review. Pre-screening agents must make a decision and begin work within 48 hours of receiving a case. This review and consideration of the case must be completed within 10 days of receipt of the records from the preliminary review agency.
However, if the preliminary investigation is deemed insufficient, the prosecutor will indicate this and return the case to the preliminary investigation body.
Trials
In this case, the trial must be completed within 10 days of receiving the records of the case. The lawyer (or the defendant) must submit a copy of the appeal to the lower court within 10 days of receiving court decisions. After the expiry of the appeal period (10 days), the lower court must send the case together with all relevant protocols to a high court.
The prosecutors of the Central Public Prosecution Service are obliged to participate in the special proceedings at the court, which must be completed within one month of receipt of the appeals.
Investigations and Preliminary Examination
The Reality of Jurisdictions
Initially, the State Security Service will determine whether the defection will amount to the crime of treason or a simple border crossing to earn a living. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the case will be dealt with continuously by the security service if there are political implications. A new settler, whose crime was classified as political, testified that his case had been transferred from the city/country security service to the (higher) provincial service and that it had been submitted to trial.
New settler Kim XX testified that he participated in the investigation and preliminary review of counter-espionage and military criminal cases in the security agency of the military division.
The Process of Investigation and Preliminary Examination
But it is also clear from Chang's testimony that an organization known as the People's Security Committee is playing a quasi-judicial function in the criminal process. In the process of investigation and preliminary examination, the commission will make a final decision whether or not a crime has been committed. So it seems to suggest that some form of leadership (or, direction) of the Party is evident in the roles played by the people's security committees during the criminal process.
From the testimony of the new settler Yoon XX, it is clear that arrests and detentions for investigative purposes, especially for preliminary examination, except for crimes in progress, are carried out only after the approval of higher authorities, such as the provincial agency or national security agency.
The Realities of Detention
- Trials and Enforcement of Sentences
According to the information booklet published by the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, based on the testimony of new settlers (defectors), the detention period for the purpose of conducting a preliminary investigation usually runs from one month to six months. However, it is reported that there is no fixed detention period in the detention facilities run by the National Security Agency. Huh Man-ho reported that in the case of new settlers who helped him prepare his "trial papers", the period of preliminary investigation exceeded at most 6 months, which was the maximum allowed under the 1999 Criminal Procedure Law. 33Article 108 of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1999 provides that the preliminary investigation period is in principle 2 months, and it can be extended up to 6 months.
But once people were detained, he said, the detention period was properly observed.34 It is clear from Chang's testimony that we need to know more about how much physical freedom suspects are given before deciding to pursue criminal charges under criminal procedure law.
The Jurisdiction Issue
The State Security Bureau will come to the Provincial Security Bureau to handle the case. Actual handling of criminal cases 47 36 Testimony of new settler Yoon XX during an interview at KINU, April. And there is a litigation division within the Office of the National Security Prosecutors at the Corps level.
After the divisional security director reports the case to the corps security headquarters, the suspect will be held in the corps detention facility.
Court Deliberations and Sentencing
In the case of First Level (lower court) trial, the court basically consists of one judge and two people's assessors, and the sentencing provisions are decided on a majority basis after consultations between the three. But in the case of Chang, who was sentenced to six years of correctional labor, he said, the decision was made as a result of an agreement between the judge, prosecutor, lawyer and the people's assessors. Actual Handling of Criminal Cases 51 44 Testimony of new settler Chang X during an interview at KINU, Oct.
Factual handling of criminal cases 53 48 Testimony of new settler Yoon XX during an interview at KINU, April 19, 2005.
Enforcement of Court Decisions and Sentences
If they found many party members in the household, it should mean that the family environment would be favorable for "re-education", and therefore less harsh sentence. From the testimony of Chang X, it is clear that the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act are faithfully observed.50 However, there are numerous testimonies that this provision is not observed in the case of forcibly repatriated pregnant women. Under Article 297 of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1999, execution of the death penalty is only possible after approval by the Standing Committee of the SPA.
Inmates in correctional centers would rank at the top of eligible candidates for amnesty, with those released on bail due to illness the next priority.
The On-site Public Trial
- The Realities of Forced Labor
The punishment for labor training is therefore a form of forced labor organized in a labor training corps. The fact that the People's Security Service determines the penalties for "labor training" also applies to repatriated defectors, which will be the subject of further discussion. If it is concluded that the border crossing was a simple crime, the person will be handed over to the People's Security Service, and the People's Security Service will decide to detain him in the labor training corps.
Another topic of research interest would be the relationship or practical differences between these two punishments and "job training".
Evaluations and Future Tasks
In light of changing internal and external conditions, North Korea has been continuously revising its Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Law, as well as other related laws such as the Public Prosecutor's Office Law, the Prosecutorial Supervision Law and Judicial Decisions and the law on sentencing. And North Korea has practically incorporated the principle of “zero crimen sine lege (no crime unless prescribed by law) into its criminal code.” As a result, the scope for arbitrary application of the law has been significantly reduced. First, North Korea has practically incorporated the principle of “no crime unless the law requires it” into its laws, but the problem is how this principle is put into practice in its criminal process.
Sixth, North Korea's criminal process should be studied more concretely and by stages, as well as by areas.
