<Anchor> It is time



to look into the actual situation of child abuse and to find alternatives to prevent the same misfortune from recurring.

At the first trial in Jeong In-i's case two days ago, the adoptive parents, who were the perpetrators, were being helped by a lawyer, but there was no lawyer for Jeong In-i, who died.

In our law, there is a system in which children victims of abuse can also receive help from public defenders, but many of the victims are still unable to use them.



What is the reason, reporter Jeong Ban-seok reported.



<Reporter>



[From the movie'Little Client': (Is it reasonable now?) The child made a confession]



In the 2013 Chilgok child abuse case.



An 8-year-old girl was found dead of bruises.



At that time, the police and prosecutors pointed out her 11-year-old sister as the murderer.



I heard on the basis of the confession that my younger brother died after being kicked.



A group of lawyers for the child who died was formed due to the results of the investigation that cannot be understood.



[Lee Myung-sook Lawyer/Chilgok Abuse Child Attorney: The police could not find out that the stepmother was involved in the child's death.

At the time, the prosecution wasn't very interested, and the court asked why I needed a lawyer when there was a prosecutor, and the lawyers were also retired from the court.]



After persistent confirmation of the facts, the lawyers drew testimony from my sister that her parents forced her to make false statements.



Eventually, it was revealed that the child was killed by the assault of the adoptive mother.



Later, during the investigation and trial process, a system of public defenders for abuse victims was introduced.



The police can ask the victim's will and apply for an attorney or appoint a prosecutor.



However, only one-third of the cases where public defenders are appointed.



This is because parents are often reluctant to apply for their child's lawyer.



Often, prosecutors are reluctant to choose an attorney.



[Attorney Shin Soo-kyung/Attorney for Democratic Society: There was a child found dead after being abandoned.

We needed a lawyer to help with the birth registration, but the prosecutor said it was difficult to designate a child who died, so we struggled to persuade him.]



Besides, the selection criteria are not clear.



In the case of seriously injured child abuse, a public defender must be selected, but if a child dies due to abuse, it is left to the discretion of the prosecutor.



If murder or attempted murder is applied to child abuse, the child abuse punishment law will be removed and the selection cannot be made.



[Attorney Shin Soo-kyung/Attorneys for Democratic Society: This was a case where the child was seriously injured, but the prosecutor tried to prosecute a more intensely attempted murder, but it was almost impossible to appoint a victim attorney.] For



this reason in 2016. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommended the Ministry of Justice to mandate the defense of abused children, and a related bill was proposed, but it was abolished without proper discussion.



There is an urgent need to improve the system so that legal services, as well as the investigation and trial process, are continuously provided to abused children.



(Video coverage: Kim Seongil, video editing: Wonhee Won, CG: Seo Seunghyun, Choi Jiwon)