"Does it make sense now that the child did that?"
"The kid made a confession."
(In the movie'Young Client')
The 2013 Chilgok child abuse case.
An 8-year-old girl was found dead of bruises.
At the time, the police and prosecutors pointed out her 11-year-old sister as the murderer based on the confession that her younger brother died because she was kicked.
Due to the unintelligible results of the investigation, a group of lawyers for the deceased child composed of 165 female lawyers, led by lawyer Lee Myung-sook, was formed.
After persistent confirmation of the facts, the lawyers drew testimony from her sister that her parents forced her to make false statements, and revealed that the child was killed by the stepmother's assault.
However, Jung In, who died 7 years after the Chilgok incident, still has no lawyer.
The parents who are the perpetrators at the trial are being helped by a lawyer, but there is no lawyer for Jeong In-i, who died.
There have been three reports of suspected abuse, but even before Jung In-yi died, he did not receive the help of a lawyer.
In 2014, during the investigation and trial process, a public defender system for abused children was introduced, but parents are often reluctant to apply for a child's lawyer, so only a third of the cases where a public defender is appointed.
In particular, if the prosecutor has been abused by his parents and there are no survivors to help, the appointment of an attorney is impossible unless the prosecutor appoints a public defender in the public interest.
▶ Abusive parents have, but Jung-in who died has no
Attorney Lee Myung-sook, who defended the children who died of abuse in the Chilgok and Ulsan cases, and stood on the side of the victims in the Sewol-ho, Crucible, and Cho Doo-soon cases, says that the reality that has not changed much is frustrating.
Every time a case breaks out, only discussions about increasing the sentence are repeated, and the manpower, budget, and system to help victims are in place.
"I don't do interviews well these days. The media looks for every child abuse case, but there is no alternative since then. It becomes an issue after the airing of "I want to know", so it's funny that the law passed in a few days. How quick legislation and no idea whatsoever. I can see if there wasn't."
(Lee Myung-sook Lawyer | Korea Women and Children Human Rights Center)
Eight years after the Chilgok incident, Jung In started the interview with difficulty, looking back at the point we were missing from the incident.
● "The Chilgok child abuse death case, without the victims' lawyers, would have been buried forever"
Q. How
did
you defend the child who died in the Chilgok child abuse case?
A. The aunt of the deceased child asked us for help and formed a joint lawyer group at the level of the Korean women's lawyers community and worked as a lawyer for the victims.
At the time, the prosecution wasn't very interested, and the court asked, “I don’t need a victim lawyer at all, I have a prosecutor, but why do I need it?”
During the investigation of the police prosecution, it was not possible to find out that the stepmother was beating the child to the point of death.
Q. What role did the victim's lawyer play at the time?
A. Just believing that she died by beating her younger brother, her older sister was tried in Family Court for murder, and the case was ended, and her stepmother was on the verge of being sentenced for only mild abuse, not related to the death of her child.
He joined the lawyers, reviewed the records, and found out that he died from the abuse of his stepmother while meeting with his older sister, aunt, and people around him, and the trial began again.
The sentence was raised as the prosecution again investigated the further abuse of the stepmother and was tried separately.
If the victims' lawyers had not been put in, the case would have been buried forever as the younger brother died from the beating of the older sister without revealing further abuse.
Q. Why do I need a public defender for a child who died from abuse?
A. In the event of a victim's death, there is no way to appoint a private lawyer unless there is a relative or support person for the victim.
However, in the public interest, it is possible for the prosecutor to select a lawyer for the deceased child.
Children cannot defend themselves for themselves.
It is difficult to argue and prove logically what happened.
Public defense lawyers must be able to sufficiently defend whether there is anything missing, contradictions, and how the death happened while watching the investigation records together.
Detectives and prosecutors have limitations because they are one of many cases.
Public defenders who are made up of lawyers who are familiar with the characteristics of child crime and who are familiar with child psychology should be actively utilized.
● "You should actively use the public defenders for abuse victims so that there are no unhappy second or third party lawyers."
Q. In the process of closing internal affairs twice and being sent as'no charge', he did not receive the help of the lawyer.
According to the regulations, the police must inform the victim child or their legal representative that they can apply for the appointment of a public defender'before an investigation'.
A. It is not possible to ask a doctor to appoint an attorney for a child who has already died and is missing.
If the police and prosecutors had helped to select a public interest lawyer for Jung In-yi during the investigation stage, more abuse could have been revealed during the investigation stage.
If the public defenders looked at the records together and submitted their opinions, they could have been punished for child abuse without ending the internal affairs or sending an opinion to the prosecutor for non-prosecution.
Since the trial is also starting now, you can appoint a public defender to help you uncover the truth for Jeong In-i.
Of course, it was difficult for the police to predict that the case of Jung In-i would lead to a death case.
In exceptional cases where reports are repeated several times or the child has died, it is necessary to establish bylaws so that the public-elect lawyer system can be used.
Q. In 2016, the Human Rights Commission recommended the mandatory public defender of abuse victims, and in 2017, the late Rep. Roh Hoe-chan and Park Beom-gye proposed a mandatory bill, but it was scrapped last year.
The estimated cost was around 1 billion to 2 billion won each year.
A. Even now, the second and third Jung-in, who are really unfair somewhere, cannot reveal their resentment, and they end up with a light sentence after being consistently investigated with only the tip of the iceberg under the excuses of their parents, who are living perpetrators. Most of them.
In order to prevent the unfair 2nd and 3rd Jung In-yi from appearing, I hope that public defenders will also be actively used, and specialized child protection agencies, police, and public officials dedicated to children will become more specialized.
However, it would be nice if the public defender system was utilized for all abuse victims, but in reality there are limitations.
For that reason, it would be good if the prosecution establishes the selection criteria for children such as deceased children, young preschoolers, and adopted children, and utilizes the public defender system.
It is the same when it is repeated several times or when habituality is seen.
I think it will be helpful if a law is made so that trials cannot be held without a lawyer for a child who has died.
● "The way to make a tuk-tack is that children will continue to die…you have to analyze it properly"
Q. Prosecutors and courts have pointed out that the public-sponsored lawyers are not professional or effective.
A. Although there is still a system of public defenders for abuse victims, the professional knowledge or experience in child psychology and child abuse crimes is still lacking.
It is necessary to educate them professionally, to give them a lot of information, and to be able to engage directly in a wide range of cases.
In the case of the UK, the state operates a system of lawyers for children. When visiting the UK in the past, there were more than 100 public-elected lawyers for children who were sexually assaulted or abused.
Q. I even published the'Korean version of the Klimbi Report' 7 years ago. How do I stop recurring child abuse tragedies?
A. The UK formed a special committee for more than a year after the Klimby incident, intensively analyzed and reviewed what was the problem, and created the Children's Police Agency.
If we don't have that kind of alternative, we'll keep the kids dying if we make it in a flash.
We took a moment to meet and report to the meeting, but the Klimby Committee would have gathered hundreds of people to do that full-time for over a year.
First, you need to do a proper analysis.
Professionals and people on the front line have to get together to figure out what's wrong.
※ Attorneys say, "I can't even want to defend Jung In-i because it is impossible to be appointed through a survivor."
An official at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor's Office explained, "It is not impossible by law, but it is practically difficult to select an attorney if the child has died and there are no survivors to apply for. We are considering the specificity and practical interests of the case."
On the 12th, I asked the Yangcheon Police Station in Seoul on the 12th, "When and to whom did Jung-in notify his application as a public defender at the time of reporting suspected abuse?"
Even now, there is no lawyer for Jung In-yi.