In South Korea, murder has a 25-year statute of limitations. This means that someone cannot be prosecuted for committing murder 25 years after the murder was committed.
A review committee of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee on Wednesday has just pushed through a bill that would remove the statutory 25-year statute of limitations on murder. The bill now awaits approval at the Assembly’s plenary session on July 24, 2015.
The revision would not apply to manslaughter (a lesser form of homicide lacking adequate “malice” to qualify as a murder) or parricide (the killing of one’s parents).
The move to remove South Korea’s statute of limitations on murder has been an ongoing one. In 1999, a 6 year old boy was murdered by an unknown attacker who doused him with sulfuric acid. At that time, the statute of limitations on murder was just 15 years. Korea’s Supreme Court last year dismissed his family’s request to keep his case open, meaning that his murderer, if he’s ever found, would now be immune from prosecution.
___
Sean Hayes may be contacted at: SeanHayes@ipglegal.com.
Sean Hayes is co-chair of the Korea Practice Team at IPG Legal. He is the first non-Korean attorney to have worked for the Korean court system (Constitutional Court of Korea) and one of the first non-Koreans to be a regular member of a Korean law faculty.
Sean is ranked, for Korea, as one of only two non-Korean lawyers as a Top Attorney by AsiaLaw. Sean’s profile may be found at: Sean C. Hayes
Similar Posts:
- South Korea moves to Remove Statute of Limitation on Murder
- Korean Statute of Limitation in Civil Cases in Korea
- Korean Fugitives on the Run: Getting more Difficult with Change of Law
- Captain of Korean Ferry Receives 36 Year Jail Sentence: Likely Life Sentence for Elderly Captain
- National Assembly of Korea Hopeless Gridlock Explained
- Korea’s Class Action Law Proposed by Moon Administration
- Length of Sentences for Korean Crimes Perpetrated in Korea
- Happy Lunar New Year from IPG Legal
- Tax Liability of Controlling Shareholders in a Korean Company: Tax Law Updates
- Korea inks FTA with China
You must log in to post a comment.