Legal limits of search and seizure for digital forensic in Korea

Abstract

Policy actions against various cyberspace crimes should respond both systematically and specifically to the nature of each crime and its accompanying evidence. Voice phishing as an emerging internet fraud practice has already victimized many unsuspecting consumers and hit the headlines frequently; cyber prostitution, pornography, illegal duplication of software, and online gambling have also become routine problems. Anonymity and facelessness in cyberspace distort one’s sense of guilt and allow for rapid collection, modification, and distribution of illegal and harmful information that disrupts social order and public safety. The purpose of this research is to examine the concept and type of cyber crime and to trace its trend in the Republic of Korea in the recent years. Due to its informational, national, global, and networking properties, cyber crime often puts serious restraints on conventional criminal justice procedures that cannot compromise such legal issues as individual safety and protection of privacy. If made accessible, information stored in private computers has potential to serve as decisive evidence in many criminal litigations. The Korean criminal procedure law promulgated on July 18, 2011 and enforced since January 1, 2012 contains an express provision permitting the search and seizure of digital evidence. But this partial code does not explicitly define the admissibility of digital evidence and acceptable methods of examining it. Hence, it is one of the goals of this research to identify problems pertaining to this law and suggest ways to improve it.