During the COVID-19 Pandemic Last Year, 1 in 5 Criminal Defendants Were Fraud or Extortion Offenders... The Lowest Number of Detentions and Prosecutions on Record

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The number of defendants prosecuted for fraud or extortion during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic last year has noticeably increased.

On the other hand, the proportion of defendants indicted while in detention reached an all-time low due to investigative agencies' restraint in detention.

According to the '2021 Judicial Yearbook' published by the Supreme Court's Court Administration Office on the 28th, among the defendants in first-instance criminal trials received last year, those charged with fraud or extortion numbered 49,826, accounting for 19.15% of the total 261,054 defendants in first-instance criminal trials. This means that one in five defendants in first-instance criminal trials was charged with fraud or extortion.

In particular, excluding offenders violating special laws such as the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling, fraud and extortion accounted for 37.13% of all criminal defendants (134,161). Compared to last year (43,931), this represents an increase of 13.4% (5,895 defendants).

Violations of the Road Traffic Act also increased by 37.5% (11,484 defendants) compared to the previous year (30,651), reaching 42,135 defendants.

Meanwhile, among the total 261,054 defendants in first-instance criminal trials last year, 21,753 were tried while in detention, accounting for only 8.4%.

This figure is 1.6 percentage points lower than the detention rate of 10% last year, marking the lowest rate since the Judicial Yearbook began publication in 1976.

This is analyzed to be influenced by the spread of a non-detention trial policy and the prosecution's restraint in detention investigations due to the COVID-19 outbreak last year.

The ratio of criminal cases processed relative to those received was 98.4%, the lowest in eight years since recording 97.8% in 2012. The increase in average trial duration due to the strengthening of the trial-centered principle and excessive workload caused by a shortage of judges are cited as causes.

Regarding bail requests, 5,692 defendants requested bail, of whom 1,755 were granted bail, resulting in a bail approval rate of 30.8%.