피의자를 위한 국선변호인 제도 확대 적용에 대한 검토

The study on the state-appointed counsel for the criminal suspect

The State-Appointed Counsel system prevents human rights violation and ensures the fairness of criminal process. According to Article 12 of Constitution of the Republic of Korea “Any person who is arrested or detained shall have the right to prompt assistance of counsel. When a criminal defendant is unable to secure counsel by his own efforts, the State shall assign counsel for the defendant as prescribed by Act. The State-Appointed Counsel system is used for the defendants at this present time. Exceptively, the state-appointed counsel to a Criminal Suspect are used only for Request for Warrant of Detention and Examination of Criminal Suspect, arrest, and Review of Legality of Arrest and Detention. In the process of Request for Warrant of Detention and Examination of Criminal Suspect, if a criminal suspect subject to examination has no defense counsel, the judge of the district court shall ex officio appoint a defense counsel. And in the process of Review of Legality of Arrest and Detention, when the arrested or detained criminal suspect is not represented by a defense counsel, Article 33 of Criminal Procedure Law shall be apply mutatis mutandis. But this system must promote extended application for the criminal suspect. German and United States are already conducting the State-Appointed Counsel for the criminal suspect. If we introduce this system for the criminal suspect, the right of defendant are ensured and it will be possible to maintain balance with the other rules of Criminal Procedure Law.