National Assembly Legislative Research Office Proposes Legislative Tasks for the 21st National Assembly
"Control of Fair Trade Commission's Investigation Power Abuse and Strengthening of Respondent's Defense Rights"
[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The National Assembly Legislative Research Office has suggested that during the 21st National Assembly session, legislation should be enacted to allow lawyers to assist respondents during investigations conducted by the Fair Trade Commission.
On the 3rd, the Research Office stated this in an 'Issues and Points' report. The report addressed implications for the passage of amendments to the Fair Trade Act aimed at improving case handling procedures.
In the report, the Research Office argued that during the 21st National Assembly session, a law should be established to explicitly guarantee the right of legal counsel to assist during Fair Trade Commission investigations.
Although the amendment to the "Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (Fair Trade Act)" has been in effect since the 20th of last month, it is necessary to further strengthen the defense rights of respondents.
The amendment includes provisions such as ▲ requiring the Fair Trade Commission to issue an official investigation notice to the investigated business during on-site inspections, ▲ minimizing the workload by consulting with the investigated business if the investigation exceeds the time or duration stated in the notice, ▲ mandating the preparation of a custody record detailing the items and quantities submitted during the investigation, and ▲ enhancing the respondent’s right to make statements and access to materials secured by the Fair Trade Commission.
These measures aim to prevent the Fair Trade Commission from unnecessarily searching the respondent’s business premises and materials or abusing investigative authority, while strengthening the respondent’s defense rights.
The Research Office also stated that the rules for the statement record should be revised to ensure that the content provided by the investigated business during on-site or summoned investigations by the Fair Trade Commission is fully recorded.
According to the Research Office, currently, the preparation of statement records is at the discretion of Fair Trade Commission officials.
Furthermore, it was suggested that legal provisions should be clarified to expand the respondent’s right to access materials from the current "attached materials of the review report" to "all materials obtained by the Fair Trade Commission during the investigation process."
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