■ Background and purpose of research 

○ Enactment and enforcement of the Judicial Police Duty Act 

- With the enactment and enforcement of the Judicial Police Service Act on January 12, 1956, the person to perform the duties of a special judicial police and the scope of their duties were specified.

 - A total of 118 amendments have been made, including the amendment scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2024, and the provisions of the law, which were only 7 at the time of enactment in 1956, have been expanded to 12, and Article 5 Judicial police management by appointment of the chief prosecutor each issue of regulation increased more than 5 times from 10 to 53. In addition, as of the end of December 2020, a total of 22,031 special judicial police, including 15,115 from central administrative agencies and 6,916 from local governments, are registered in the statistical system of the Public Prosecutor’s Office due to the increase in the number of official position and designated special judicial police through the revision of the Judicial Police Duties Act. 

- Special judicial police are not dedicated to investigative work, and there are differences in the scope of investigation and the level of organization of investigative powers, but having a similar size of manpower with investigative powers in a specific field is important for the exercise of the state's right to punish.

■ Content and method of research

○ Research contents - The purpose of this study is to investigate the operational status of special judicial police and to prepare institutional improvement measures, and is planned for a total period of 3 years.

- In the first year of research, the operation status and improvement plans of 17 metropolitan government and 226 local government special judicial police were studied.

- In the second year of research, the operation status of special judicial police in central administrative agencies and improvement measures were studied, focusing on non-economic ministries such as the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of National Defense, and the Military Manpower Administration. 

- In the 3rd year of research, the state of operation of special judicial police in central administrative agencies and improvement plans were studied, focusing on economic ministries such as the National Tax Service, the Korea Customs Service, and the Copyright Protection Division of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

○ Research method 

- Literature study: A total of 72 studies (6 research reports, 63 academic studies, 3 theses) published over the past 10 years (2011-2021) to identify research trends in special judicial police in Korea.

-Case analysis and comparison: The special judicial police of metropolitan governments analyzed the cases of three places, Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Jeju, which were judged to have excellent performance and high research value, and the special judicial police of local governments selected places with a willingness to cooperate with researchers. Complementary look at the characteristics through the articles posted on ‘Special judicial police Cafe’. 

- In-depth interviews: 23 interviews were conducted with a total of 46 people involved in universities, cities, cities, counties, and districts, either online using zoom or on-site interviews combined with on-site inspections, depending on the situation, to examine the issues of the special judicial police system from a comprehensive perspective. The survey was divided into eight areas: law, investigation, business, institutional cooperation, education system, work and institutional uation, operation, and differences in position by administrative district.

- Survey: Analyzing online surveys of 212 special judicial police of metropolitan governments and 246 special judicial police of local governments on 1) overall business status, 2) legal issues, 3) investigation status, 4) education status, 5) operation status, etc. (It was conducted from August 26, 2022 to September 5, 2022, and finally analyzed the results of the survey of 458 people).

- Analysis of information disclosure request data: We request information disclosure on data such as organizations, personnel, and incident status from metropolitan and local governments across the country to analyze the current status of special judicial police operation by each local government. 

- Analysis of related overseas cases: After comparing the general characteristics of Anglo-American law and the Continental law special judicial police, as a case study, the US and French special judical police systems representing each were examined to compare and analyze the current status of special judicial police operation in the public health and forest areas.

- Development of policy alternatives: Investigation infrastructure derived from operational development plans discussed through surveys, development plans proposed while reviewing legal and institutional issues, observation of actual investigation sites, training courses, and consultations on inquiries from special judicial police officers suggests development plans from the perspective of each office field.

■ Significance and outline of the special judicial police system and jurisdictional crimes 

○ Significance and Overview of Special judicial police Economic Map 

- A special judicial police is an administrative official and an investigative agency.

- It is fatality to strengthen the special judicial police's investigative expertise. 

- After the adjustment of investigative powers of the prosecution and the police, the special judicial police commanded the investigation and enacted the investigation rules. 

○ Characteristics, types and jurisdiction of special judicial police investigation authority 

- Investigative powers of a special judicial police under the direction of a prosecutor and limited in scope 

- There are various special judicial police depending on their affiliation and the method of granting investigative authority.

- Crimes under the jurisdiction of the special judicial police officer can be divided into safety crimes and fair crimes.

■ Dentification of issues through in-depth interviews, prior research, and information disclosure requests 

○ Legal issue 

- Confusion arising from parallel administrative investigation and investigation 

- Legal limits on the scope of nominations

 - Necessity of improving laws related to special judicial police ○ Investigational issue 

- Need to secure expertise - burden of investigation 

- Difficulties in carrying out investigative work 

○ Business issue

- Need to understand job satisfaction - low job acceptability 

- Lack of support (materials, training, etc.) for adapting to work

○ Institutional cooperation issue 

- Insufficient cooperation in case competition with the national police 

- Lack of cooperation and exchange with special judicial police in other regions 

- Inadequate investigation cooperation by local governments - Improving administrative handling of investigations by the prosecution 

○ Educational system issue 

- effectiveness of education 

- Education operation (securing training hours, expanding educational opportunities)

- Securing diversity of education (investigative procedures, expertise in specific areas, case-oriented)

○ Work and institutional uation issue 

- Refusal of an individual to designate a special judicial police officer 

- Create an atmosphere of avoidance within the organization - Issues of fairness in uation of institutions targeting cities and countries by city/provincial governments

○ Operational issues - Issues of Neutrality in Business Conduct - Budget guarantee issues (allowance, investigation expenses, travel expenses, food expenses, etc.) 

- Personnel-related issues (recruitment, inconsistency between job and job line, etc.) 

- Working environment issues (independent office, investigation room, digital forensics, etc.) 

○ Necessity to confirm differences in position by administrative district 

- Differences in the areas of education desired to be provided 

- Disadvantages in job uation and differences in the degree of recognition as an objectionable position 

- Differences in working environment 

- Differences in Activeness in Job Performance

■ Comparison of major issues of metropolitan and local special judicial police

○ Special Judicial Police of Metropolitan Municipality

- Education and training required for professionalism 

- Recruitment required - Lack of linkage with other departments 

- Use of personal expenses due to reduction in allowances or lack of investigative funds after nomination 

- Criminal information system (KICS) access rights required 

- Need to vitalize specialized officer system

- Need to reflect personnel appraisal for investigative work

- Expansion of the scope of nomination work or designation of temporary work area ○ Local government special judicial police

- Need to resolve the problem of involuntary nomination process 

- Need to resolve mismatch between work and expertise - Lack of Guaranteed Opportunity to Participate in Education and Training

- Burden of investigation work due to identity confusion as a public officer - Existence of internal negative perception of long-term intention - Separate investigative space required - Absence of advisory body 

■ Key results of survey analysis 

○ Business conduct issue 

- Job dissatisfaction 20.5% 

- Work overload 41.5%

- Recognition of avoidance within the department 52.2%

- Necessity to establish a dedicated department 86.2% - Identity confusion (administrative officials and investigators) 53.3% 

○ Legal issue 

- Confusion between administrative investigation and investigation 44.3% 

- Confused about Judgment on When to Start Investigation 42.8% - Necessity to expand nomination scope 53.1% ○ Investigational issue 

- Administrative investigation duties concurrently 76.6% - Percentage of not notifying whether it is an administrative investigation or an investigation 48.0% - Investigations initiated immediately upon discovery of criminal charges 59.0% - Investigation difficulties (large number of cases) 31.4% 

- Investigation difficulties (because the content of the case itself is difficult) 70.1% ○ Education and training issue 

- No training experience 43.4% - Lack of training opportunities 73.4% ○ Operational Issues - Respondents inappropriate formation organization 35.4% 

- Ratio of not wishing to work long term 37.6%

- Percentage of using private money more than once during work 49.0% 

- No independent office within department 59.2% 

- No separate investigation room 43.9%

- No investigative equipment 54.4% - Necessity to solve the problem of unreasonable uation of work performance 

■ Actual situation and improvement plan by office field 

1. Food hygiene related affairs 

○ Significance 

- Food is a basic and essential element for human survival and is closely related to the health and safety of the people. 

- The special judicial police is conducting an investigation with the goal of blocking food hazards. 

○ Status and related statistics 

- In the case of violation of the Food Sanitation Act, the number of cases recorded in 2014 as 10,463 cases reached 11,116 cases in 2016, and after that, the number of cases gradually decreased to 6,734 cases in 2020, a decrease of 35.7% compared to 2014. The number of people arrested also decreased by 38.6% from 13,878 in 2014 to 8,530 in 2020. 

- In the case of violation of the Act on Country of Origin Labeling of Agricultural and Fishery Products, the number of cases recorded in 2014 was 3,458 cases and reached 4,137 cases in 2016. After that, the number of cases gradually decreased to 2,068 cases in 2020, a decrease of 40.2% compared to 2014. The number of people arrested also increased from 3,729 in 2014 to 4,302 in 2016, and decreased by 43.9% to 2,093 in 2020.

○ Case and issue

- There were many cases in which fakes were distributed when the price of raw materials for daily necessities rose, or Chinese products were falsely labeled as domestic products, and products (confectionery, livestock products, etc.) with expired expiration dates were stored and sold. 

○ Improvements 

- Need to secure investigative expertise: Administrative investigation and investigative procedures must be clearly distinguished and compliance with each procedure is required 

- Need for long-term, continuous investigation, not temporary crackdown 2. Health and safety related affairs 

○ Significance 

- In order to ensure the safety and health of citizens, the special judicial police investigates public health establishments, illegal drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices, and false and exaggerated advertisements. 

- In practice, the most problematic cases are public health offenses and medical offenses. 

○ Status and related statistics 

- In the case of violations of the Public Health Management Act, the number of cases recorded as 1,093 in 2014 increased by 102.4% from 2014 to 2,212 in 2020. The number of people arrested also increased by 53.9% from 1,174 in 2014 to 1,807 in 2020. 

- In the case of medical law violations, the number of cases counted as 2,317 in 2014 reached 3,593 in 2019 and 3,076 in 2020, a 32.8% increase from 2014. The number of people arrested also increased from 4,762 in 2014 to 7,115 in 2019, then decreased to 6,052 in 2020, and the number of people arrested increased by 27% in 2020 compared to 2014. 

- In the case of violations of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, the number of cases recorded at 139 in 2014 repeatedly increased and decreased at a similar level, then surged to 2,482 cases in 2020. The number of cases in 2020 increased by 1,685.6% compared to 2014. It is estimated that the number of violations of the law has soared along with the increase in crackdowns in the process of strengthening prevention and management to respond to COVID-19.

○ Case and issue 

- There were many cases of not reporting or operating businesses without a license under the Public Health Management Act. (unreported/unlicensed beauty sales, unreported lifestyle accommodations, unreported/unlicensed medical business) 

- With respect to illegal businesses using the Saga Zone of the COVID-19 Quarantine Guidelines, suspected violations are selected through civil complaint analysis and information collection, and then joint crackdowns are made. 

○ Improvements 

- If measures are taken after the special judicial police investigation, it is necessary to take measures to prevent illegal living accommodations in advance by publicizing the standards applicable to illegalities along with crackdowns on whether the measures are properly implemented.

- Investigation through continuous monitoring is needed rather than planned investigation for a certain period of time.

3. Environmental preservation related affairs 

○ Significance

- Crimes related to environmental preservation include violation of the Water Environment Conservation Act, violation of the Air Quality Conservation Act, violation of the Waste Management Act, violation of the Mountainous District Management Act, violation of the Forest Resources Creation and Management Act, and violation of the Forest Protection Act. 

○ Status and related statistics 

- According to Supreme Prosecutor’s Office statistics, the current status of prosecution and prosecution disposition, the proportion of prosecuted cases reaches or exceeds 90%, except for offenders violating the Waste Management Act (72.4%), indicating that relatively light dispositions are being made. 

- In relation to cases such as violation of the Water Environment Conservation Act, violation of the Clean Air Conservation Act, and violation of the Waste Management Act, if the special judicial police officer also plays the role of an administrative investigator, whether he is conducting investigation work in the field as a special judicial police officer, It is necessary to clarify whether administrative investigations are being conducted in the capacity of administrative investigators.

○ Case and issue 

- A special judicial police officer does not follow the procedures of the Criminal Procedure Act, such as a search and seizure warrant or a search with consent, against ‘business establishments with suspicious circumstances of committing a crime’ during on-site investigation, In the case of conducting a crackdown as in a general administrative investigation even though there is no ‘circumstance’, problems may arise in the area of evidence.

- Administrative offenses, such as environmental offenses, have a fairly complex structure in which laws, enforcement ordinances, and enforcement rules are linked, making it difficult to understand and understand the penalty rules. 

- In case of violation of the Mountain Management Act, there are many cases where the illegal act started decades ago. 

- In determining whether or not the statute of limitations has been completed, the point at which the tort ends has to be considered, but according to Supreme Court precedents, it is difficult to distinguish the standard based on the abstract standard of ‘whether or not restoration to original state is possible’. 

- Cases of violation of the Mountain Management Act often compete with cases outside the scope of duties of the forest special judicial police, such as violations of the National Land Planning and Utilization Act and building law violations. Job conflicts may occur.

○ Investigation improvements

- In the case of violation of the Forest Resources Creation and Management Act, it is necessary to clarify the specific basis for the enforcement and the scope of the role, etc. in the case of a person other than a special judicial police officer such as a forest protection officer in cracking down on the theft of forest products. 

4. Traffic safety related affairs 

○ Significance 

- Crimes related to traffic safety include violation of the Automobile Damage Compensation Act in the case of driving without compulsory automobile insurance, and violation of the Automobile Management Act in the case of leaving the vehicle without permission. 

○ Status and related statistics 

- A distinctive feature of driving cases without compulsory automobile insurance is that there are hundreds of unsolved cases to be dealt with per special judicial police officer. 

- Even in finding the driver caught by CCTV, the owner of the car is pointed out as the operator, but if the owner denies the status of the owner and the fact of driving, there is no other evidence, making it difficult to process the case. 

○ case and issue 

- Moreover, if the owner of the car denies and points to another person, or if the whereabouts are unknown, the case is transferred to investigate the designated person, the person who has been previously notified, the insurance policyholder, etc. 

- On the other hand, according to Article 19 (Initiation of Investigation) of the Regulations on Investigation Command by Prosecutor for Special Judicial Police Management and Investigation Rules for Special Judicial Police Management, ‘when a suspect attends an investigation and when a suspect interrogation report is prepared’ even if there is no suspicion, do not close the internal investigation. 

- If the above rules are followed, in the process of finding the operator, there will be more people to be booked and sent, making it more difficult to handle the case. - Since there are so many cases, we have no choice but to deal with the case with the statute of limitations of 5 years approaching, and it is difficult to expect post-crime prevention effects, such as complaints such as the owner of the car and other subjects of investigation, saying, “The incident from 5 years ago is now coming...”. 

- The fact that there are hundreds of unsolved cases is a number that is beyond the limit of the processing capacity, and the investigative work environment, which is difficult to handle cases, causes the frequent transfer of special judicial police officials, which inevitably leads to a decrease in professionalism and consequently, case handling. The vicious cycle is repeating as more unsolved cases are piled up due to delays. 

○ Investigation improvements

- The current case handling system for driving cases without compulsory automobile insurance is a task that must be improved. 

- Regarding the case of unauthorized vehicle neglect, it is urgent to establish regulations on handling cases left unattended for a long time in free public parking lots and to prepare measures to deal with objects in the vehicle in the case of compulsory handling of vehicles left without permission. 5. Youth, animal, and culture-related affairs 

○ Significance 

- The Judicial Police Duty Act stipulates the scope of duties in relation to youth protection, social welfare services, cultural assets, tourism, and animal protection. - In practice, we mainly control and investigate harmful environments (media, drugs, businesses) to create a healthy growth environment for teenagers. 

○ Status and related statistics 

- In the case of violations of the Youth Protection Act, the number of cases counted at 9,006 in 2014 decreased by 14.6% from 2014 to 7,690 in 2020.

The number of people arrested also decreased by 16% from 11,559 in 2014 to 9,711 in 2020.

○ case and issue 

- Proxy purchase (act of purchasing alcohol, cigarettes, etc. on behalf of teenagers after receiving a certain fee), proxy deposit (act of lending money to teenagers to purchase idol-related products or game items, etc. through SNS, and receiving labor costs, etc. ) is mainly done by posting an advertisement for proxy deposit on SNS and renting a small amount of around 100,000 won for a considerable fee for a short term of 2-7 days, and the number of cases is increasing. - As a case of violation of the Animal Protection Act, dog slaughterer A ran a dog slaughterhouse from 2019 to July of this year, electrocuting 90 dogs with an electric iron skewer and butchering them. 

○ Investigation improvements 

- Since proxy deposits are mainly prent online, the investigation is conducted by monitoring SNS to secure clues, so it is necessary to actively block proxy deposit advertisements in cooperation with related organizations and actively respond to reports of damage. 

- As the need for preemptive response to animal cruelty increases, it is necessary to deploy investigative personnel specializing in animal protection and increase personnel. 6. Housing stability related affairs 

○ Significance 

- Real estate speculation raises the price of real estate and leads to high production costs of real estate prices, which lowers the competitiveness of the industry. - All metropolitan governments are promoting real estate illegal activity investigations, and are making efforts to promote housing stability through investigations of real estate-related illegal activities, such as illegal resale of pre-sale rights, illegal transactions of subion bankbooks, and crackdowns on outings. 

○ Status and related statistics 

- In the case of violations of the Licensed Realtor Act, the number of cases that reached 1,413 in 2014 decreased by 35.5% to 911 in 2020, and the number of arrests also decreased by 32.0% from 2,367 in 2014 to 1,610 in 2020. - In the case of housing law violations, there were 306 cases in 2014, but increased by 2.2 times and 1.95 times to 662 and 597 cases in 2019 and 2020. 

○ Case and issue 

- In the online open chat room ‘○○ City Local Residents' Meeting’, in which about 300 people participate, 12 real estate agencies repeatedly reported false listings for 46 normal listings advertised at prices lower than the market price on Internet real estate sites, colluding and collusion. This is a case of obstruction of legitimate sales activities, and it is characterized by the fact that the criminal process, which was carried out in the past open line, is being conducted online. 

- This is a case in which the Seoul Civil Welfare Judicial Police Corps (hereinafter referred to as ‘minsa-gyeong’) arrested two subion account brokers (main criminals) who illegally arranged subion bankbooks to investors by recruiting subion bankbooks that were prohibited from trading. 

○ Investigation improvements - Reinforcing business linkage with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport - Reinforcement of relationship with Korea Real Estate Agency 7. Affairs related to fair trade and low-income economy 

○ Significance - Laws related to fair trade in the affairs of the Special Envoy include the Quantity Act, Foreign Trade Act, Copyright Act, Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act, and Trademark Act. There are laws on door-to-door sales, laws on door-to-door sales, etc., and laws on installment transactions. ○ Status and related statistics 

- The number of violations of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act is around 600, but it appears to be increasing somewhat recently, especially the number of arrests against corporations. - Trademark law violations were around 4,000 in 2014-16, but decreased to around 3,000 in 2017-20. ○ Case and issue 

- As a result of intensive crackdowns by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Department from January to the end of June this year to eradicate trademark infringement that undermines sound business order, counterfeit trademark infringement products are sold in Internet open markets, large shopping malls around Dongdaemun and Namdaemun, and Gangnam and Myeong-dong. As a case in which 58 traders were caught, investigations were conducted not only in traditional markets but also online. 

○ Investigation improvements 

- New provisions for investigation and punishment for violations of the law, such as illegal distribution of advertisements by registered lending companies under the 「Loan Business Act」 within the scope of duties of judicial police officials 

- Amend the Judicial Police Duties Act to expand the scope of special police investigations to include illegal collections in addition to the Loan Act 

- Preparation of policy alternatives to the problem of burner bankbook and burner phone by foreigners - Reinforcement of cooperative relationship between central and local governments

■ Overseas case study 

○ The Significance of Comparative Institutional Review of Overseas Systems 

- Since the domestic criminal justice system was launched by enumerating civil law-based criminal litigation structures, Korea has comparatively reviewed the cases of various foreign countries and set them as models for the development of criminal justice. 

- Criminal justice systems in advanced foreign countries are generally divided into civil law and common law, and this study examines France among civil law countries and the United States among common law countries as representative cases. - This study focuses on the case of the operation of the special judicial police in the areas of ‘public health’ and ‘forestry’.

○ United States: highly independent and professional law enforcement agency 

- In the United States, although there is no system that directly regulates the special judicial police, not only the federal government, but also the state governments and the governments below can establish their own law enforcement agencies, and they enforce the law with expertise in special areas. It can be seen that it corresponds to the special judicial police. 

- Special judicial police agencies in the United States enjoy independence in organization, recruitment and personnel, education, etc., and form an equal and cooperative relationship with other law enforcement agencies and conduct independent law enforcement. ○ France: Special judicial police designated in the Criminal Procedure Act, etc. 

- France operates a special judicial police supplementary to the national police, and the special judicial police are defined as public officials and employees who have been granted judicial police powers by laws such as the Criminal Procedure Act. 

- The powers of the French special judicial police are limited by the relevant laws and regulations. 

■ Development plan for special judicial police system 

○ Operational development plan of the special judicial police system 

- Establishment of dedicated department - Utilization of professional investigative personnel (term system for experienced investigators, expert officer system, administrative personnel) 

- Review of temporary expansion of nominated names - Mandatory education and training and implementation of training prior to nomination

- Investigation-related budgeting and reinforcement of support 

- Efforts needed to improve awareness of avoidance of special judicial police within the department 

- Review the establishment of offices, investigation rooms, and investigationrelated equipment through budget planning 

- Expansion of educational opportunities to secure expertise - Improving the treatment of special judicial police officers (overwork, allowance issues, etc.) 

- Discussion on integrated operation through central departments centered on metropolitan governments - Review of integrated management centered on the autonomous police committee 

○ Legal and institutional development plans for the special judicial police system 

- Need to expand investigative powers to cases related to cases under the jurisdiction of the special judicial police 

- Necessity of special judicial police's transfer of case and regulations on competition for investigative powers 

- Necessity of revision of the Penalty Loss Act, which excludes the special judicial police's duty to prepare and send investigation materials for cases subject to non-prosecution 

- Special judicial police need to be selected separately to improve their investigative expertise or to strengthen training after selection, and in the long term, a special judicial police agency needs to be established. 

- It is also necessary to clarify the distinction between administrative investigation and criminal investigation, comply with relevant laws and prepare conversion procedures.

- It is necessary to prepare a legal basis for the use of handcuffs by special judicial police officers through the enactment of the Special Police Officer Act or the revision of the Criminal Procedure Act. 

- 2021. 1. It is necessary to review plans to expand and convert the investigative command and investigation rules of the special judicial police into the special judicial police duty execution law

○ Development plan for each office field of the special judicial police system 

- Review problems and improvements in investigations and figures through analysis of the current status of violations and prosecution dispositions presented in the legal system in each related office, crime analysis of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office, and actual case analysis 

- As each office has expertise, it is necessary to operate the organization from a long-term and continuous perspective. 

- Necessity of intensive training for related public officials to familiarize themselves with criminal procedures and administrative procedures 

○ Securing professional career investigative personnel 

- Referring to cases in which US law enforcement agencies secure expertise in a short period of time by preferentially selecting other law enforcement agencies or those with military experience, it is recommended to expand the scope and scale of career competition recruitment when appointing special judicial police officers in the Republic of Korea. 

○ Provide systematic training focused on practice 

- Taking the example of U.S. law enforcement agencies providing a systematic and practical education curriculum when hiring or continuing education for their employees, we are providing conditions for Korean special judicial police officers to break away from theory-oriented education and receive practical, systematic and professional education. 

- Just as the U.S. federal government establishes a federal law enforcement training center and provides common education to federal law enforcement agencies, educational institutions such as the National Police University and the Police Investigation Training Institute, which are established under the National Police Agency, develop and provide a unified curriculum. ○ Establishing an equal and cooperative relationship suitable for the new criminal justice structure 

- As the amended Criminal Procedure Act and the autonomous police system, which stipulate mutual equality and cooperation between the police and prosecutors, have been implemented, the special judicial police can cooperate closely with the national police and prosecutors. It is expected that the operational status of the enforcement agency will be a good example. 

- In the case of overlapping jurisdictions between the special judicial police and the national police or autonomous police, it is desirable to prepare conditions for smooth law enforcement by specifying in advance the division of duties, cooperation and administrative support measures, etc.