형사사법기관의 디지털증거전송체계 도입방안

This dissertation aims to investigate realities in which digital evidences are moved from end to end of criminal justice process and introduce legal and technical suggestions to allow digital evidence to be exchanged fully digitally at the state-wide level. Although S. Korea has seen a big advance made in sharing information and documentation of a criminal case electronically since the KICS system was implemented in 2010, digital evidence is still printed out or stored onto a physical media such as a CD and is provided to prosecutor or court physically. Such practices may cause digital evidence and its meta-data to be lost or damaged and increase burden of proof for integrity and chain of custody over the course of travelling among criminal justice services. Also digital evidence stored onto a physical media may limit availability of digital evidence due to its short life-span in terms of evidential value. In consequence, these realities and practices deter to introduce electronic criminal proceedings which allow case documents and relevant evidence to be transferred totally electronically. Thus, we may want to ask ourselves which one would be better? To revamp inefficient realities or to fix a mirror reflecting them? It is a very clear choice. The current criminal justice system should be reshaped to embrace a new digital evidence exchange system called KoDEX(Korea Digital Evidence Exchange) which is an ICT infrastructure where digital evidence can be transferred, stored, analyzed, retained, discovered, and disposed digitally so that the KoDEX would improve reliability and availability of digital evidence as well as ease of access and retrieval. The KoDEX, also, facilitates e-discovery and enables the accused and their attorney to access digital evidence online. Fortunately, the electronic summary court regarding driving while intoxicated or unlicensed shows partial feasibility of electronic criminal proceedings by replacing traditional paper-base proceedings. For this purpose, 「Promotion Of The Digitalization Of The Criminal Justice Process Act」 and other relevant laws need to be adjusted. An electronic way in which a digital evidence is transferred throughout criminal justice process and examined in a trial should be stipulated. And a printout or a physical media for digital evidence can be used only in a exceptional condition. Also, the KoDEX will be a repository for digital evidence including digitalized documentary evidence. Consequently, regulations and supervision of administrative and judicial regime should be emphasized to prevent misuse or abuse of stored information on top of a new perspective on balance between objectives of criminal justice and protection of personal information. Hopefully, the KoDEX will become a thought-provoking suggestion and a leading model to achieve the aim of fully digitalized criminal justice system.