Defendants, victims and others will be able to view and copy records in cases that are on trial for free. The Ministry of Justice said on the 26th that it had preannounced legislation for a partial amendment to the Rules on Methods and Fees for Viewing and Copying Case Records.
Until now, parties to a case who wanted to view or copy records in a case on trial had to pay a fee of 500 won per case record and an additional fee of 50 won per page of documents (250–300 won for printouts of records on special media).
Going forward, when defendants, victims and others apply to view or copy case records managed by the Prosecution Service after an indictment is filed but before evidence is submitted, they will be able to obtain the records without fees.
The Ministry of Justice explained that viewing and copying case records during trial is directly connected to the defendant's right to defense, the constitutional right to a speedy trial, and the victim's right to make statements during proceedings, so it prepared a special provision exempting fees.
The effective date is May 1. When the amended rules take effect, it is expected that approximately 1.8 billion won in annual fees (about 182,000 cases), which defendants, victims and attorneys have borne for viewing and copying case records during trials, will be waived.
Earlier, President Lee Jae-myung ordered improvements to the viewing and copying procedures during the Ministry of Justice's work briefing in Dec. last year.
Minister Jung Sung-ho of the Ministry of Justice said, "Because the right to view and copy case records is a procedural right that serves as the starting point for realizing the public's right to file a lawsuit, it must be robustly guaranteed," and added, "We plan to pursue, in various ways, measures to improve the system that parties to cases can tangibly feel."