Review of Legal Codes Governing Administrative Death Investigations and Autopsy by Administrative Order / 대한법의학회지

Under current law, there are two paths for death investigations: administrative and judicial. A proper death investigation system is essential to the establishment and maintenance of the human rights of those involved and to enhance the credibility of the judicial system as a source of ensuring the security of society. These objectives are accomplished through the accurate, professional, and systematic management of death investigations by qualified experts. The present study aims at reviewing and uncovering the limitations of the current legal codes governing administrative death investigations and autopsy by administrative order. The main problem being that no clear legal statements exist regarding the qualifications of persons responsible for administrative postmortem inspections and administrative autopsies; the problem is the same for any death related to crime. At the conclusion of this paper, the authors propose that legal codes regarding the scope of postmortem inspections or autopsies to determine the cause and manner of death should be clearly defined, and that the qualification standards for experts examining any desceased individual should be legislated.

The Realities of Postmortem Investigation and Examination in Chungju, Eumseong Provinces / 대한법의학회지

Ninety forensic (judicial) autopsies were performed in Chungju and Eomseong provinces during 3 years (1998-2000). On the other hand, postmortem external examinations for administrative purposes were done in only 2 bodies during the same period. In this paper the reasons for small proportion of the postmortem external examination for administrative purposes compared with that for judicial autopsies were discussed. The following results might offer us significant suggestions for improving the postmortem investigation and examination system in Korea. 1. Reconsideration on the importance of postmortem external examination. 2. Reestablishment of the definitions and a guiding principle in postmortem investigation system for judicial and administrative purposes. 3. Education on the necessity for augmentation of medicolegal autopsy rate among postmortem investigation cases for administrative purposes.