May a request to inspect or copy case papers existing as electronic documents be met electronically, and what does a non-registered user gain from paragraph two?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In the practice file, read the application to inspect or copy, because registered-user status affects only the added option of handing over a paper version printed through the computerised information processing system; read also any handover note showing paper output printed through the system, and the papers showing the document was made under the Act on the Use of Electronic Documents in Criminal Justice Procedure, etc.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the provision at its word: an electronic document made under the Act may be inspected, transcribed or copied by electronic viewing or copying through the internet or a computerised information processing system, or by transmission, notwithstanding the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act that the provision sets aside, and this applies whatever the applicant's registered-user status.
Another reading reads paragraph two as an added option, not a restriction: where a person who is not a registered user applies to inspect or copy, the method of handing over a paper version printed through the computerised information processing system is also available, and paragraph one's electronic route remains open alongside it.
Your judgment
Where the file does not record whether the applicant is a registered user, what evidence would decide which route the request to inspect or copy takes?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to make the paper-copy route for non-registered users exclusive, or if a Presidential Decree or a Supreme Court rule made under the provision sets out the procedures and the technical measures for keeping the electronic document identical.