THE WAPI NEWS – “ROUNDUP”
INDIA:
REGULATION RECOMMENDED BY THE SUPREME COURT
The private eye: Editorial on Supreme Court’s push to regulate detectives
Being unbound by law, the detective can also take things too far.
The Editorial Board
https://www.telegraphindia.com
Published 09.08.26
The Supreme Court, while reviewing photographic evidence in a matrimonial dispute, enquired who had taken the images and under what authority.
Upon being informed that it was the handiwork of a private detective, the apex court called private investigation an “area sans regulation” and referred the matter to the Union law ministry, suggesting the introduction of laws to regulate the nebulous realm within which private detectives operate.
SOUTH KOREA:
REGULATION IS WORKING, JUST NEEDS CRITERIA NOW
Slow Investigations Push Koreans Toward Private Detectives
By Yang Ji-hye
August 10, 2026
Analysts expect demand for private investigation services to grow further after the passage of a revised Criminal Procedure Act that strips prosecutors of their powers to conduct direct and supplementary investigations.
An analysis by Seoul Economic Daily of the Private Qualification Information service (PQI) run by the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training found that 135 private detective certifications were registered in the country as of this month. That is more than eight times the 16 recorded in 2020 — an increase of more than eightfold in six years.
There is currently no state-recognized certification for detectives; private operators that have passed PQI review issue the credentials to applicants who pass certain tests, including exams on law.
Industry groups estimate that the domestic workforce, which stood at about 8,000 in 2020, has since surpassed 10,000.
A lawyer who requested anonymity likewise explained, “Since adultery was decriminalized and police can no longer investigate infidelity cases, we not infrequently see people hiring detectives to gather evidence themselves. It is limited, but given that advanced countries such as the United States and Japan supplement investigative information through detectives, the possibility of introducing it in Korea does not seem out of the question.”
A 2020 revision to the Credit Information Act legalized the use of the title “detective,” but no system to regulate the scope of their work and their authority has yet been put in place.
Full Article: https://en.sedaily.com/society/2026/08/10/slow-investigations-push-koreans-toward-private-detectives
Posted by: Ian (D. Withers)
www.WAPI.org
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