South Korea Sets Case-Handling Rules for New Serious Crime Investigation Agency

On 2 October 2026 the Ministry of the Interior and Safety promulgated Ordinance No. 651, the Rules on Case Affairs of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, published in the Official Gazette No. 21333 (Special Volume 2). The regulation lays down how the new agency and its regional offices receive, investigate and close cases, and it enters into force the same day that prosecutors lose their direct investigation powers.

A new criminal justice architecture

The ordinance’s statement of reasons cites three laws as its basis: the Act on the Organisation and Operation of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency (Act No. 21491, promulgated 24 March 2026, in force 2 October 2026), the amended Criminal Procedure Act (Act No. 21857, promulgated 4 August 2026, in force 2 October 2026), and the amended Regulation on Mutual Cooperation between Prosecutors and Judicial Police Officers and General Investigation Standards (Presidential Decree No. 36704, promulgated 29 September 2026, in force 2 October 2026). The Prosecutors’ Office Act (Act No. 21490) is also referenced.

Article 1 states the purpose: to regulate the receipt, investigation and handling of cases by the agency and the regional agencies, and the matters required under Article 50 of the agency’s founding act. The text is organised into 12 parts and 133 articles, with 226 attached official forms.

Who investigates and how cases are received

• Article 2 assigns judicial police officer duties under the Criminal Procedure Act to the agency’s head and to investigators of grade 7 or above; investigators of grade 8 or below assist as judicial police assistants.
• Article 6 lists six grounds for opening a pre-indictment investigation, including complaints from members of the public, referrals from other agencies, notifications of suspected offences by other investigative bodies, media or online reports and anonymous tips, and requests from prosecutors.
• Article 10 lists nine grounds for registering a full investigation case, including detection of an offence, complaints, indictments and self-reports, transfers from other agencies, and referrals by military prosecutors.

Suspects’ rights and the conduct of investigations

Article 12 sets the governing principles: non-custodial investigation, voluntary investigation as the rule, and coercive measures only where the law allows and to the minimum extent necessary, choosing the least intrusive procedure and method. Article 13 requires investigators to seat defence counsel beside the suspect during interrogation and forbids restricting participation merely because no formal statement is being recorded; restrictions are permitted only for concrete risks of evidence destruction, obstruction or leakage, and the suspect and counsel must be told of the right to seek a quasi-appeal under Article 417 of the Criminal Procedure Act. Article 15 obliges investigators to inform suspects of their right to seek relief from a prosecutor before interrogation and to obtain a signed confirmation. Article 27 requires video or audio recording of the entire interrogation, and Article 30 allows suspects and participating counsel to take notes.

Victims, data protection and disclosure

Article 121 requires investigators to prevent the disclosure of a victim’s address, name, age, occupation, school, appearance or other identifying details, and to give victims the information listed in the Crime Victim Protection Act. Article 132 governs access to and copying of investigation files, allowing refusal or restriction where personal information or trade secrets would be harmed, where disclosure would facilitate destruction of evidence or flight, or on comparable grounds. Article 125 fixes retention periods of ten years for the investigation review committee’s decisions and five years for its other documents. Article 9 requires notification of a non-indictment decision within seven days, and Article 16 requires progress updates to complainants within seven days of registration, again after three months, and then monthly.

Timetable and transitional rules

The rules take effect on 2 October 2026, except the provisions on audio recording — Articles 27(1) to (3) and (5), 29, 91(3) and 94(3) — which apply from 5 August 2027. A supplementary provision treats cases transferred to the agency under the Prosecutors’ Office Act as investigation cases, and the rules apply to cases already under investigation or pending before a court.

For readers, the ordinance is the operating manual of the body that now handles serious crime: it fixes who may investigate, how suspects and victims are treated, how long records are kept and when files may be withheld, shaping the practical reach of the criminal justice overhaul that began the same day.

Source: Gwanbo (Republic of Korea Official Gazette), No. 21333, 2 October 2026, Section I (Ministerial Ordinances), Special Volume 2, p. 2 (official reference: Ministry of the Interior and Safety Ordinance No. 651).