The ruling Saenuri Party’s domestic and sexual violence related proposals are focused on systemic issues such as penalization of suspects and access to family courts.

On Aug. 27, Rep. Kang Eun-hee and 10 other Saenuri lawmakers put forward a proposal to partly revise the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc., of Crimes of Domestic Violence to strengthen the enforcement of the law, pointing out its shortcomings.

“Under the current regulations, police officers are able to take emergency intervention measures, but they are not required to arrest the suspect,” Kang said.
 
“The revision makes it mandatory for the officers to arrest flagrante offenders, and give them the power to detain them for up to 24 hours.”

In addition, the police are to be given the authority to detain suspects under the influence of alcohol for up to 24 hours, and fines of up to 5 million won ($4,600) could be issued to those disobeying emergency measures imposed by the police.

While Kang’s proposal approaches the issue from the law enforcement side, Rep. Jeong Kab-yoon’s proposal aims to increase access to family courts.

In his proposed revision to the Act on the Establishment and Jurisdiction of Courts of Various Levels, Jeong and nine other lawmakers called for the establishment of a family court in Ulsan.

The lawmakers said that Ulsan’s 1.1 million citizens are disadvantaged due to the lack of a family court in the city, saying that the citizens require “professional judiciary services” to deal with the increase in related issues arising from rapidly changing social and family structures.

Other efforts are directed at expanding the means to educate people about domestic violence. The motion to revise the Act on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Protection, etc. of Victims represented by Rep. Lee Jasmine calls for introducing mandatory anti-domestic violence education at state-run organizations and at provincial governments. The revision would also make it compulsory for the chiefs of provincial governments to offer anti-domestic violence education to residents.

The Saenuri Party’s proposals include measures for the victims such as the proposal to revise the act regarding sexual crimes represented by Rep. Lee Myoung-su. The proposal focuses on sex crime victims with disabilities. The proposers would see the act revised to have sign language interpreters accompany victims with hearing and vocal disabilities to court and investigative authorities.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)