Constitutional Court to Hold Hearing Next Month on "Non-Delivery of Search and Seizure Warrant Copies" Constitutional Complaint Case

Hearing Scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on October 21

The Constitutional Court of Korea has initiated proceedings on a constitutional complaint regarding the "case of non-delivery of seizure and search warrant copies to individuals who are not criminal suspects but are subject to seizure."

Constitutional Court, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Yonhap News Agency

On September 7, the Constitutional Court announced that it will hold a hearing at 3:00 p.m. on October 21 at the Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul. The hearing concerns a case filed by attorney Kim Youngsoo of the law firm Daeryun, who requested the cancellation of a Supreme Court ruling.

Previously, attorney Kim filed a constitutional complaint seeking the annulment of a Supreme Court decision related to the execution of a search and seizure warrant by the special prosecutor’s team led by Ahn Mi-young, which was investigating the death of the late Sergeant Lee Yea-ram. Kim argued that when the special prosecutor, Ahn Mi-young, conducted a search and seizure in July 2022 targeting him as a witness, a copy of the warrant was not provided, and the necessary conditions for search and seizure were not met.

However, in February this year, the Supreme Court ruled that "witnesses such as attorney Kim are not entitled to receive copies of search and seizure warrants," thus rejecting Kim's argument.

According to Article 118 of the current Criminal Procedure Act, a copy of the search and seizure warrant must be delivered when the person subject to the disposition is a defendant. Article 219 provides that Article 118 applies mutatis mutandis to search and seizure warrants in the investigation stage. The courts interpret Article 118 as meaning that only defendants, excluding third parties, are entitled to receive a copy of the warrant. Therefore, when interpreting the investigative stage provision, the courts limit the entitlement to suspects, excluding witnesses.

In contrast, attorney Kim argues that denying the right to receive copies of warrants to witnesses under the Criminal Procedure Act constitutes an infringement of fundamental rights and has filed a constitutional complaint on that basis.

Meanwhile, this is the second hearing date scheduled for this constitutional complaint case. The Constitutional Court will hold its first hearing for a constitutional complaint regarding the fine imposed on Green Cross Corporation for alleged collusion in vaccine bidding on October 7.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.