Open Decision Ledger · Criminal & investigative procedure
Relevance of Other Illegal Filming Videos Found in a Voluntarily Submitted Mobile Phone and the Effect of Defects in the Right to Participate and in Providing a List
Translated from the Korean original. Read the Korean
Supreme Court, Feb. 17, 2022, 2019Do4938 (judgment)
Case name: 성폭력범죄의처벌등에관한특례법위반(카메라등이용촬영)
Official text on the National Law Information Center
Question
Do other illegal filming videos discovered while searching a mobile phone voluntarily submitted at the scene have admissibility of evidence even where the scope of submission was not specified?
Holding
Where the scope of submission is not clear, information that is related to the criminal suspicion that motivated the voluntary submission and has at least minimal value in proving it becomes subject to seizure, and may include indirect evidence or circumstantial evidence concerning the motive, circumstances, means, time, and place of the offense. The Supreme Court recognized admissibility of evidence, finding that the other videos were related because they were close in time and place to the eighth offense, that the defendant participated in the search, and that the defendant's procedural rights were not substantially infringed by the failure to provide the list.
Summary of the holding, verbatim
임의제출의 동기가 된 범죄혐의사실과 관련되고 이를 증명할 수 있는 최소한의 가치가 있는 정보여야 압수의 대상이 되는데
Unofficial English translation
It must be information that is related to the criminal charge that motivated the voluntary submission and has at least minimal value in proving it in order to be subject to seizure, whereas
Disposition
Reversed and remanded Stated in the decision
원심판결을 파기하고, 사건을 의정부지방법원에 환송한다.
Unofficial English translation
The judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Uijeongbu District Court.
Form of the test
Existing test applied Read from the decision
절차 위반행위가 이루어진 과정의 성질과 내용 등에 비추어 절차상 권리가 실질적으로 침해되었다고 보기 어려운 점 등을 종합하면
Unofficial English translation
If, upon comprehensively considering the fact that, in light of the nature and content of the process in which the procedure violation occurred, etc., it is difficult to regard the procedural right as having been substantially infringed, etc.
Factors
- 범행 동기와 경위, 수단과 방법, 시간과 장소 등에 관한 간접증거나 정황증거
- 피의자나 변호인에게 참여의 기회를 보장하고 압수된 전자정보가 특정된 목록을 교부해야 하나
- 피의자의 절차상 권리가 실질적으로 침해되지 않았다면
- 촬영 기간이 8번 범행 일시와 가깝고
Unofficial English translation
• Indirect evidence or circumstantial evidence regarding the motive and circumstances of the acts, the means and method, the time and place, etc.
• an opportunity to participate must be guaranteed to the suspect or the defense counsel and a list identifying the seized electronic information must be furnished, but
• if the procedural rights of the suspect have not been substantially infringed,
• the period of filming being close to the date and time of Act 8, and
Relation to precedent
Follows earlier decisions Stated in the decision
대법원 2021. 11. 18. 선고 2016도348 전원합의체 판결(공2022상, 57)
Unofficial English translation
Supreme Court Decision 2016Do348 decided November 18, 2021 (en banc judgment) (Gong 2022 Sang, 57)
Decisions referred to
[1] 대법원 2021. 11. 18. 선고 2016도348 전원합의체 판결(공2022상, 57), 대법원 2022. 1. 27. 선고 2021도11170 판결(공2022상, 486)
Burden of proof
Not addressed Not in the decision
Open question and revisit condition
Can participation be recognized on the sole ground that the suspect was present at the place of the search, and by what criteria is it determined whether the participation was substantive?
If the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act on the scope of seizure of voluntarily submitted items or on the right to participate in the search of electronic information are amended, this reading will be re-examined.
Cross-family AI independent reading & axis check
7 of 8 axes matched GPT-6 Astra (OpenAI, codex CLI) · 2026-10-16
In comparison with an independent reading by another AI in the same family (GPT-6 Astra), which read only the original text without seeing the primary reading, 7 of the 8 axes matched, and the readings diverged on the eighth axis (Open question and revisit condition).
Axis 8 (Open question and revisit condition): Primary “Can participation be recognized on the sole ground that the suspect was present at the place of the search, and by what criteria is it determined whether the participation was substantive?” vs Independent “At what point do differences in the time and place of the other filming offenses from the offense that motivated the voluntary submission negate relevance?”
The primary reading asks the criteria for determining the substantive nature of participation in the search, while the independent reading asks the limits of relevance in crime based on the time and place of filming.
임의제출의 동기가 된 범죄혐의사실과 관련되고 이를 증명할 수 있는 최소한의 가치가 있는 정보여야 압수의 대상이 되는데Raw responses and comparison record: Protocol · Blind readings (JSONL) · Axis comparison (JSONL) · SHA-256 (JSON)
Lower-court contrast & scope of application
Lower-court reading vs. Supreme Court holding
Lower-court context: The court below held that the defendant had voluntarily submitted only the video of the eighth offense filmed at the place where he was discovered, that he had no intention of submitting the videos of offenses 1 through 7 contained in the mobile phone, that the two offenses were unrelated, and that the investigative authorities did not guarantee the right to participate during the search and did not provide the list of electronic information; on these and other grounds it reversed the first-instance judgment, which had found the defendant guilty of offenses 1 through 7, and pronounced not guilty.
Supreme Court standard: The Supreme Court held that the videos of offenses 1 through 7 were related, in that they were filmed over a period of a little more than two months at public places such as bus stops and subway stations, close in time and place to the eighth offense, and were suspected of being a series of acts arising from habitual conduct or the manifestation of a sexual preference. Finding that the mobile phone was examined in the defendant's presence, and that the defendant readily recognized the videos and gave specific statements about them, and that his procedural rights were therefore not substantially infringed, it reversed and remanded the entire judgment of the court below, including the guilty portion subject to concurrence of offenses.
Distinguishing conditions
- Where, at the time of the voluntary submission, the suspect clearly limited the scope of submission to a specified video
- Where the discovered videos are so removed in time, place, or method from the offense that motivated the voluntary submission that relevance is difficult to recognize
- Where the suspect was not present at the place of the search and did not receive the seizure list, so that he had in substance no opportunity to contest the seizure of unrelated information
Record verification notes
Before asserting the same conclusion, check the entry on the circumstances of voluntary submission in the seizure report, the place where the search was conducted and whether the suspect was present, and what the suspect stated about the videos during the interrogation of the suspect.
From the official text
Points at issue
[1] 수사기관이 전자정보를 담은 매체를 피의자로부터 임의제출 받아 압수하면서 거기에 담긴 정보 중 무엇을 제출하는지 명확히 확인하지 않은 경우, 압수의 대상이 되는 정보의 범위 / 수사기관이 피의자로부터 범죄혐의사실과 관련된 전자정보와 그렇지 않은 전자정보가 섞인 매체를 임의제출 받아 사무실 등지에서 정보를 탐색·복제·출력하는 경우, 피의자 측에 참여의 기회를 보장하고 압수된 전자정보가 특정된 목록을 교부해야 하는지 여부(적극) 및 그러한 조치를 하지 않았더라도 압수·수색이 적법하다고 볼 수 있는 경우 [2] 피고인이 휴대전화로 성명 불상 피해자들의 신체를 그 의사에 반하여 촬영하거나(‘1~7번 범행’), 짧은 치마를 입고 횡단보도 앞에서 신호를 기다리던 피해자의 다리를 몰래 촬영하여(‘8번 범행’) 성폭력범죄의 처벌 등에 관한 특례법 위반(카메라등이용촬영)으로 기소되었는데, 8번 범행 피해자의 신고를 받고 출동한 경찰관이 현장에서 피고인으로부터 임의제출 받아 압수한 휴대전화를 사무실에서 탐색하는 과정에서 1~7번 범행의 영상을 발견한 사안에서, 제반 사정을 종합하면 1~7번 범행으로 촬영한 영상의 출력물과 파일 복사본을 담은 시디(CD)는 임의제출에 의해 적법하게 압수된 전자정보에서 생성된 것으로서 증거능력이 인정된다고 한 사례
Unofficial English translation
[1] The SCALE of the information subject to seizure / where an investigative authority receives a medium containing electronic information from a suspect by voluntary submission and seizes it without clearly confirming what information contained therein is being submitted, and, where an investigative authority receives from a suspect by voluntary submission a medium containing a mixture of electronic information related to the criminal charge and electronic information not so related and searches, copies, and prints the information at an office or other location, whether an opportunity to participate must be guaranteed to the suspect's side and a list identifying the seized electronic information must be furnished (affirmative), and cases in which the search and seizure may nevertheless be regarded as lawful notwithstanding the failure to take such measures [2] In a case where the defendant was prosecuted for violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes (filming by means of a camera, etc.) for having filmed the bodies of victims of unknown identity against their will using a mobile phone ('Acts 1 to 7') or for having secretly filmed the legs of a victim wearing a short skirt while she was waiting for the signal in front of a crosswalk ('Act 8'), and, in the course of searching at an office the mobile phone that a police officer who had been dispatched upon the report of the victim of Act 8 had received from the defendant at the scene by voluntary submission and seized, discovered the videos of Acts 1 to 7, where, upon comprehensively considering the circumstances, the printouts of the videos filmed in the course of Acts 1 to 7 and the CD containing copies of the files were created from electronic information lawfully seized by voluntary submission and therefore their admissibility of evidence is recognized
Summary of the holding
[1] 수사기관이 전자정보를 담은 매체를 피의자로부터 임의제출 받아 압수하면서 거기에 담긴 정보 중 무엇을 제출하는지 명확히 확인하지 않은 경우, 임의제출의 동기가 된 범죄혐의사실과 관련되고 이를 증명할 수 있는 최소한의 가치가 있는 정보여야 압수의 대상이 되는데, 범행 동기와 경위, 수단과 방법, 시간과 장소 등에 관한 간접증거나 정황증거로 사용될 수 있는 정보도 그에 포함될 수 있다. 수사기관이 피의자로부터 범죄혐의사실과 관련된 전자정보와 그렇지 않은 전자정보가 섞인 매체를 임의제출 받아 사무실 등지에서 정보를 탐색·복제·출력하는 경우 피의자나 변호인에게 참여의 기회를 보장하고 압수된 전자정보가 특정된 목록을 교부해야 하나, 그러한 조치를 하지 않았더라도 절차 위반행위가 이루어진 과정의 성질과 내용 등에 비추어 피의자의 절차상 권리가 실질적으로 침해되지 않았다면 압수·수색이 위법하다고 볼 것은 아니다. [2] 피고인이 휴대전화로 성명 불상 피해자들의 신체를 그 의사에 반하여 촬영하거나(이하 ‘1~7번 범행’이라고 한다), 짧은 치마를 입고 횡단보도 앞에서 신호를 기다리던 피해자의 다리를 몰래 촬영하여(이하 ‘8번 범행’이라고 한다) 성폭력범죄의 처벌 등에 관한 특례법 위반(카메라등이용촬영)으로 기소되었는데, 8번 범행 피해자의 신고를 받고 출동한 경찰관이 현장에서 피고인으로부터 임의제출 받아 압수한 휴대전화를 사무실에서 탐색하는 과정에서 1~7번 범행의 영상을 발견한 사안에서, 1~7번 범행에 관한 동영상은 촬영 기간이 8번 범행 일시와 가깝고, 8번 범행과 마찬가지로 버스정류장 등 공공장소에서 촬영되어 임의제출의 동기가 된 8번 범죄혐의사실과 관련성 있는 증거인 점, 경찰관은 임의제출 받은 휴대전화를 피고인이 있는 자리에서 살펴보고 8번 범행이 아닌 영상을 발견하였으므로 피고인이 탐색에 참여하였다고 볼 수 있는 점, 경찰관이 피의자신문 시 1~7번 범행 영상을 제시하자 피고인은 그 영상이 언제 어디에서 찍은 것인지 쉽게 알아보고 그에 관해 구체적으로 진술하였으므로, 비록 피고인에게 압수된 전자정보가 특정된 목록이 교부되지 않았더라도 절차 위반행위가 이루어진 과정의 성질과 내용 등에 비추어 절차상 권리가 실질적으로 침해되었다고 보기 어려운 점 등을 종합하면, 1~7번 범행으로 촬영한 영상의 출력물과 파일 복사본을 담은 시디(CD)는 임의제출에 의해 적법하게 압수된 전자정보에서 생성된 것으로서 증거능력이 인정된다는 이유로, 이와 달리 보아 1~7번 범행 부분을 무죄로 판단한 원심판결에 법리오해의 잘못이 있다고 한 사례.
Order
원심판결을 파기하고, 사건을 의정부지방법원에 환송한다.
Unofficial English translation
The judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Uijeongbu District Court.
Provisions referred to
[1] 형사소송법 제121조, 제129조, 제218조, 제219조 [2] 구 성폭력범죄의 처벌 등에 관한 특례법(2018. 12. 18. 법률 제15977호로 개정되기 전의 것) 제14조 제1항, 형사소송법 제121조, 제129조, 제218조, 제219조, 제307조
Read 2026-10-16 · Cross-read 2026-10-16. All quotes matched against the official text. The Chinese-character placeholders the court used for anonymised parties are given in their Korean readings, and parenthetical Chinese-character glosses are omitted.
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