When you receive an indictment

When the envelope with the indictment arrives, check the date first. Deadlines are counted from the day you received it.

• Write down the date you received the indictment (공소장). Within 7 days of that date, you must submit a written opinion to the court stating, among other things, whether you admit the charged facts (Criminal Procedure Act (형사소송법) Article 266-2).
• Read the charge, the applicable provisions and the charged facts line by line, and mark anything that is not true.
• Check whether the accompanying documents include information about a court-appointed lawyer (국선변호인). Decide whether to hire a lawyer or request a court-appointed one.
• Get ready to apply to the Public Prosecution Service (공소청) to inspect and copy the investigation record. If you have a lawyer, the lawyer applies (Article 266-3).
• If your address has changed, tell the court right away. If you miss a hearing because you did not receive the summons, it can count against you.

Do not write in the written opinion that you admit everything before you have seen the record. The opinion is also passed to the prosecutor (Article 266-2(2)). It is not too late to decide whether to admit the charges after seeing the record, and until then you can submit an opinion saying you will state your position after reviewing the record.

Do not contact the victim or witnesses to ask them to change their statements. It will count heavily against you in bail and sentencing decisions and can be a separate crime.

Do not decide on your own to put off a hearing or miss it without notice. The summons states that if you fail to appear without good reason, a detention warrant may be issued on the grounds that you may flee (Article 74).

The indictment only states conclusions. To know which statements and evidence led to those conclusions, you need to look at the investigation record. The defendant or their lawyer can apply to inspect and copy the documents the prosecutor will submit as evidence, the list of witnesses and documents related to the defendant's arguments (Article 266-3). If the defendant has a lawyer, the defendant can only apply to inspect, not copy.

Once you have seen the record, you decide whether to consent to each piece of evidence. For statement records you do not consent to, the person who made the statement often has to appear and testify in court, so this choice sets the length and direction of the trial.

If the defendant has no lawyer, the court appoints one on its own initiative when the defendant is detained, is a minor or aged 70 or over, has both hearing and speech impairments, is suspected of having a mental disability, or is charged with an offense punishable by death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment with or without labor for a minimum of 3 years or more (Criminal Procedure Act Article 33(1)).

In other cases, the court appoints one on request if the defendant cannot hire a lawyer because of poverty or similar reasons (Article 33(2)).

The first hearing begins with notice of the right to remain silent and confirmation of identity. The prosecutor then reads out the charged facts, and the defendant and lawyer state whether they admit them. Next come views on the evidence, followed by the examination of evidence. As a rule, a criminal trial can only be held if the defendant appears (Article 276).

Where the charges are admitted, the hearing may close at the first session with sentencing at the next. Prepare materials to be considered in sentencing, such as a settlement agreement, proof of compensation, a letter of remorse and a certificate of employment, before the first hearing. The law does not set how long it takes to get to the first hearing; it depends on the court. If the victim applies, the court must call the victim as a witness and hear their views (Article 294-2), so in cases without a settlement, prepare for that testimony as well.

To challenge the judgment, you must appeal within 7 days of the sentencing date (Article 358). After appealing, once you are notified that the record has been sent on, you must submit a statement of reasons for appeal within 20 days of that day (Article 361-3). If you miss these deadlines, you lose the chance to challenge the judgment, so write the dates down separately.

Once you receive the indictment, we first apply to inspect and copy the record and review the records and evidence from the investigation stage. Points to dispute are disputed with evidence, and where the charges are admitted, we gather and organise compensation and sentencing materials. If we handled the case from the investigation stage, we build on the questioning records and written opinions from that time.

The written opinion is due within 7 days, so it is better to move quickly. If you have received an indictment, contact us through the chat on this page and tell us the date you received it.