Citizen Participation Trial (1)

Bang bang bang!

The sound of gunfire rang out through the soundproofing headsets.

This place, filled with the smell of gunpowder, was a tactical training ground owned by the association.

The special forces members, including me, conducted training for the first time in a long time.

It was a very practical training, including shooting, indoor search and suppression, etc.

Lee Seo-woo, who had been running around with a submachine gun for the first time in a long time, was impressed by the skill of Kim Jeong-tae and his men.

"This all feels very familiar. Wait a minute, is it okay to breach the door like that?"

"Because there aren't many wooden buildings in Korea."

Lee Seo-woo is terrified when he sees the agents attaching a small bomb to a locked door.

Even so, it is a specially made object that is made so that the explosion is completely concentrated inward.

The agents took Lee Seo-woo, who was playing, and let him try using it himself.

"Okay, just stick it to the door and press it."

"Where did you all learn this?"

"Because that's what we used to do."

"Wait a minute, Seo Woo, that's not you..."

"Ah."

"?"

A member who is embarrassed when stopped by a colleague.

Lee Seo-woo looked at them and felt puzzled.

It seems that Lee Seo-woo made a mistake because he was too used to it.

I decided to slowly finish training and return to the office.

"Thanks to Blanche, I have time to train."

"Really? I heard your sister was thinking about going camping sometime."

"Camping? Well... that wouldn't be bad."

When I spoke to Alice, Tia looked slightly startled.

"Ugh, why would you leave your comfortable and cozy home to sleep? Is there really a need? I know that humanity has evolved over thousands of years to secure a good living environment..."

"That's nonsense. The main point of camping isn't lodging."

"huh?"

Tia's face becomes confused by the firm denial.

I got his consent right away.

"The real fun of camping is eating delicious food to your heart's content outdoors."

"Oh, oh oh! It was such a wonderful event... I'm sorry. It was my fault. Please take me too!"

While Tia was making a fuss.

Seo Ji-yu, who had not participated in the training, came running from afar.

She wasn't a police officer like Lee Seo-woo, so it was a bit much to give her real combat training.

"Team Leader! I've received a strange notification..."

"Strange notice?"

"Yes. The trial that the prosecution was conducting will be converted into a citizen participation trial!"

"what?"

If this were a normal incident without any Hunter involvement, there would be no reason to notify us...

It seems that the prosecution was working on a case related to Hunter.

They cannot, in principle, handle Hunter-related cases, but they do resolve minor cases to reduce the heavy workload of the special forces.

This is possible because the special forces' authority is very powerful yet ambiguous.

"What incident are you talking about exactly?"

"It's a case of a retired hunter murder. A former hunter suffering from PTSD was murdered by an active-duty hunter."

"ah..."

Only then did I recall the outline of the incident.

Retired hunters deserve to live the life of a hero, but unfortunately, that's not the case for everyone.

Some of them suffer from severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

The victim in this incident was also such a case.

The victim, Bae Hee-young, was once a hunter active on the front lines...

During the final operation, he experienced a tragic accident in which all of his team members except himself died.

She was discharged immediately but suffered serious aftereffects.

Due to constant hallucinations or auditory hallucinations, he carries a weapon, screams, and has seizures.

It was a very difficult time for her, her colleagues, and her family.

And then, in the end, a tragic incident occurred...

She attacked a person with the weapon she usually carried.

The one attacked was an active hunter who was returning home after finishing a dungeon raid.

It seems that he started to panic after seeing the hunter gear that the assailant was wearing.

Victim Bae Hee-young's hunter abilities were sealed thanks to Ariel's actions...

She looked incredibly threatening, brandishing a hunting knife in the middle of the road in broad daylight.

In the end, the perpetrator ended up killing Bae Hee-young after a fight.

Since the footage was completely preserved in the middle of the road, there was no room for doubt about the circumstances.

"But the perpetrator readily admitted to the crime. Are you saying that this will be a citizen participation trial?"

"That's what they said. What's the problem?"

"There are many problems."

Citizens' Participation Trial...

You can think of it as roughly the Korean version of the jury system.

However, Korean juries cannot determine whether a defendant is guilty or not guilty.

They don't even hand down sentences themselves.

Seo Ji-yu, who heard my explanation, asked with a slightly bewildered expression.

"Then why do you do that?"

"How democratic is it that citizens can directly participate in trials? And if citizen participation in trials is allowed, judges won't completely ignore the opinions of the jurors."

However, establishing a citizen participation trial is quite difficult.

First, the defendant must want to switch to a citizen participation trial.

As a party to the trial, the defendant has the right to decide.

If the defendant does not want it, a citizen participation trial is absolutely impossible.

However, in this case, this first step was passed without a hitch.

Since the victim was holding a knife in the middle of the street, there is no room for self-defense.

That is, they judged that the perpetrator would be able to gain the sympathy of the jury.

And if you win the sympathy of the jury, the chances of a lighter sentence naturally increase.

From the perpetrator's perspective, it's not a bad choice.

The question is whether the court will allow citizen participation in the trial.

The court has the right to dismiss a citizen participation trial for a number of reasons.

Whether it's simply concerns that the public's verdict might be unfair, or to protect the privacy of victims or their families, etc...

You can reject it as much as you want if you put your mind to it.

"But the court allowed it..."

"Is the citizen participation trial that bad?"

"It's definitely inconvenient from the court's perspective. First of all, it takes a long time."

The basic duration of a citizen participation trial is 10 hours.

The jury is randomly selected from the local residents...

It takes ages to explain the jury process and the case to them one by one.

This is not a very pleasant method for the courts, which are already overburdened with work.

Besides, cases related to Hunter are not usually tried through citizen participation trials.

Because this issue is so easily raised, there is a high possibility that the neutrality of the jurors will be damaged before even starting.

But, pushing ahead with the citizen participation trial...

"Is it the association president's doing? I should go and find out."

"So... Team Leader, you don't like citizen participation trials either?"

"Of course. You saw the fake green dust incident last time. Did the trial held on the Internet taxidermy site seem that fair?"

"I can't bring myself to say that."

Of course, they cast their votes haphazardly, hiding behind the anonymity inherent in the Internet environment.

The jury system works much better than that.

Even so, the jury system is still not very appealing.

In fact, judges are among the highest level elites in Korea.

The best students in the country study for several more years and gain legal experience before they can make a decision.

And even then, there are frequent cases of misjudgments or unfair rulings.

But what about the ordinary citizens who were forced to gather?

I thought it was fortunate that the jury didn't have to make the decision themselves.

I took the elevator with Seo Ji-yu and went straight to the chairman's office.

"Mr. Chairman, have I been too comfortable lately?"

"Huh? Why are you suddenly like that? Could it be because of the citizen participation trial?"

"You know it so well, why are you pretending not to know?"

"No, that case has already been forwarded to the prosecution. Why are you here?"

"They at least notified us. Why are you suddenly holding a citizen participation trial for the Hunter case?"

When I asked the part I was most curious about, the association president silently pointed upwards.

It means that it is because of his superiors... the political world.

"They said the number of citizen participation trials this year was too low... so they decided it was the right time to introduce citizen participation trials for the Hunter case."

"There must be a reason for the lack of cases. If it's a nominal system, why not just get rid of it? Why force it?"

"But isn't this democracy? It's a bit much to just abolish this system... If you abolish it once, it might never come back."

I was surprisingly satisfied with the correct answer.

It seems that the president of the association did not give permission without thinking.

"Okay, we'll join in instead."

"What? The prosecution will really hate that."

"When did they ever like us? They'd hate me if I even breathed. Anyway, if we're going to do it, we should do it right."

Of course, I have no intention of taking on unnecessary trouble.

I just plan to monitor whether the prosecution is doing its job properly.

The president of the association secretly observed Seo Ji-yu's expression and then revealed his own thoughts.

"It's not just the special forces that the prosecutors hate. They keep sabotaging the association by using the Association Act to impose personal sanctions."

"Then they should do something right..."

"That's right. Anyway, I'll tell the prosecution."

"All right."

We shook hands and parted ways in a warm atmosphere after a long time.

Seo Ji-yu, who had quickly gathered the materials, headed to the court with me.