By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Victims of sexual crimes under the age of 19, will not be summoned to court to testify, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said Thursday.
The judicial practice, which has drawn criticism as it forces the victims to relive the trauma, will be completely scrapped as a law meant to better protect the human rights of minors who are victims of sex crimes is now in effect.
Under the law, a video recording of the testimony will replace their appearance in court. Recorded testimony was accepted under the previous rule, but the prosecution used to require victims' presence during the trial for an accurate description of the crime.
Psychologists and doctors have criticized the practice of calling in victims as it worsens their post-traumatic stress disorder by forcing them to recollect gruesome memories.
If the video submitted to the court is deemed unconvincing, prosecutors or investigators will conduct additional face-to-face interviews with victims in private.
``We have put forward a set of guidelines for dealing with minors, in line with the new law,'' said a spokesman for the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.
Five other amended laws to toughen punishment against sexual predators took effect on the same day.
They extended the maximum jail term of sex offenders to up to 30 years from 15 years, set a guideline to disclose the identities and private information of suspects, and extended the statute of limitations on sex crimes.