In the future, it will be possible to disclose mug shots (documentary photos of criminals’ impressions) of suspects of serious crimes. The National Assembly held a plenary session on the 6th and passed the ‘Mug Shot Disclosure Act’, which allows investigative agencies to take and disclose photos of suspects whose personal information has been decided to be disclosed.
Until now, even if a decision was made to disclose personal information through the Criminal Personal Information Disclosure Committee, photos taken by investigative agencies could not be disclosed without the suspect’s consent. This is because there were no specific laws governing when and who must disclose the photos taken. For this reason, the police were only able to release past photos, such as the suspect’s resident registration card photo, and it has been pointed out that ‘the released photo is different from the suspect’s actual appearance.’ However, with the passage of the Mugshot Act, it became possible to disclose photos taken by investigative agencies within 30 days from the date of the decision to disclose personal information. Forced photography is also possible if necessary.
The types of crimes that can be subject to personal information disclosure have also expanded from certain violent crimes such as murder and sexual violence crimes to crimes related to civil war and foreign exchange, organized crime, use of explosives, sex crimes against children and adolescents, and drug-related crimes.
The scope of disclosure of personal information has also been expanded to include defendants as well as suspects. Until now, even if personal information was disclosed during the investigation stage, personal information could not be disclosed again until the trial was finalized. For defendants whose indictment was changed to a specific serious crime during the trial, the prosecution can request the court to disclose personal information until the end of the appeal hearing.
The mugshot law was established as a preventive measure against a recent series of violent crimes. As crimes targeting unspecified people continue to occur, such as the Sillim-dong and Seohyeon Station stabbing incidents, there has been constant talk about the need to improve the personal information disclosure system to protect the public from crime. A police official said, “Even if we wanted to release the mugshots of violent criminals, we couldn’t do it because there was no law, but a big problem has been solved.” He added, “It is a natural thing to do for the people’s right to know.”
2023-10-06 12:12:16
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