• Journal of forensic and investigative science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.54-71
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• 2006

The definition of Crime Indictable Upon Complaint (CIC) is crimes which can be prosecuted only with complaints from the victim or his/her direct parents. Sex crimes are the representative examples, rapes and indecent assaults. According to the research referenced in this paper, 74% of sex crimes which had been penalized based on Republic of Korea (ROK) Criminal Code amounts rape and indecent assault are CIC. However, only 20% of perpetrators were confined, and the rest received non-confinement or non-prosecution determination. The review of criminal history checks reveals that 67% of the perpetrators had criminal histories and 39% of them had more than three documented offenses. The CIC was established in order to protect the victim's rights and dignity, respecting the victim's opinion regarding the incident. All kinds of sex crimes then should have been the CIC, but those crimes such as Injury Resulting from Rape, Special Rape, Rape by Special Modus Operandi, Sexual Assault among Relatives and Domestic Violence which have to guarantee the opinion of the victims are prescribed as non-CIC. We therefore conclude that the CIC should be abolished. The abolition of CIC will play an important role in crime prevention because severe penalties for sex crimes will be imposed on the perpetrators. In addition, it will help the sex crime victims retrieve their dignity by spreading recognition widely through the community that sexual assault is not only a social assault but an infringement against human rights.