A study of Supreme Court Decisions on Criminal Procedure in 2023

In 2023, there were numerous Supreme Court rulings in the field of criminal procedure law. Among them, eleven important judgments with substantial meanings related to criminal practice, theory, and guarantee of basic rights of the people were selected to introduce the issues and to give a brief review. The main judgments introduced in the paper include the following; ① A ruling that determined that it was illegal to newly search and print a copy of the imaging created during the seizure and search of electronic information in the preceding case for the purpose of investigating criminal charges against an accomplice after the judgment in the preceding case was already confirmed, ② A ruling against the need to recognize the right of the principal offender to participate in the case where a person concealing evidence arbitrarily submits the information storage medium after being incited to conceal it by the person in question, ③ A ruling that in cases of an offence unpunishable over objection, an adult guardian cannot decide not to seek punishment on behalf of a victim who is incompetent, ④ A ruling acknowledging the admissibility of video footage taken without a warrant by an investigative agency at the scene of a crime during or immediately after the crime, ⑤ The Supreme Court ruling that Article 60-6, Paragraph 1 of the Military Criminal Act applies to assaults between Korean soldiers and others that occurred at U.S. military bases in Korea (excluding the application of impunity against will), ⑥ A ruling that determines the degree of reliability of the suspect's statement at the investigation stage as a condition for acknowledging the evidentiary capacity of the investigator's testimony, ⑦ A ruling that acknowledged the admissibility of a phone call recording between the defendant and an individual, which was secretly recorded by the individual, ⑧ Judgment that determines the meaning of ‘when the contents are acknowledged’ in Article 312, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Procedure Act and the requirements for the admissibility of evidence of the defendant’s accomplice written by the prosecutor, ⑨ A ruling that a decision must be made explicitly on whether to grant permission for a prosecutor's request to change the indictment, ⑩ A ruling that set strict sentencing conditions for the original trial verdict that sentenced the death penalty, ⑪ Judgment explaining the scope of adjudication of the supreme court and the remand trial on the main and reserve indictments, ⑫ Judgments explaining the requirements for trial without attendance at the appellate trial and the requirements for public notice, ⑬ A ruling that explains the scope of the effect of a final judgment on some of the concurrent offences. Through active criticism of the above rulings and discussions, many developments are expected in the field of criminal procedure law case and theory this year.