▲ Legislation and Judiciary Committee Chair Seo Young-kyo presides over a plenary session at the National Assembly on July 8, while facing protests from People Power Party lawmakers Kwak Kyu-taek, Yoon Sang-hyun, Song Seok-jun, and Cho Bae-sook regarding the formation of the National Assembly's second-half standing committees.
The Democratic Party of Korea (DP), which has set a policy to abolish the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights under the banner of so-called prosecutorial reform, began discussions on amending the Criminal Procedure Act at a standing committee meeting held yesterday (July 8).
As the DP accelerates its efforts with the goal of passing the bill before its national convention on August 17, the People Power Party (PPP)—which is boycotting standing committee schedules in protest of the DP's unilateral formation of committees—entered the meeting hall on this day and strongly protested, demanding, "Stop the hasty abolition of supplementary investigation rights."
During the plenary session of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on this day, the DP referred 55 bills to the First Subcommittee on Bill Review, including a Criminal Procedure Act amendment jointly proposed by the DP's Kim Yong-min and the Rebuilding Korea Party's Park Eun-jung, which centers on abolishing the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights.
The amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act aims to fully abolish the prosecution's direct investigation rights and supplementary investigation rights, centralizing investigative authority under the police (judicial police officers).
If the amendment is passed as is, prosecutors would retain roles in indicting and maintaining public prosecutions, and would hold the right to request supplementary investigations from the police.
The bill also includes provisions to appoint human rights protection officers at each investigative agency to handle complaints regarding human rights violations and significant abuses of investigative power during the investigation process, as well as to strengthen human rights protections and ensure due process during the execution of warrants.
Furthermore, it includes a provision to establish a public prosecution review committee at each district court to deliberate and decide on the appropriateness of a prosecutor's decision to indict, with the final decision on indictment to be made according to that resolution.
In addition, the bill includes clauses that codify time limits for the processing of investigations and indictments.
Apart from the bill proposed by Representative Kim and others, the DP is drafting its own Criminal Procedure Act amendment regarding the abolition of supplementary investigation rights, based on discussions by a task force (TF) established within the party.
The TF plans to propose the amendment within this week, and it is expected to be reviewed in parallel with the bills from Representatives Kim and Park at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
Han Byung-do, acting party leader and floor leader of the DP, stated on July 7, "The complete abolition of supplementary investigation rights is the DP's firm principle, and there is no disagreement within the party." Kim Han-kyu, senior deputy floor leader for policy, previously emphasized regarding the timing of the bill's processing, "There is no plan to process it after the national convention (on August 17)."
The Legislation and Judiciary Committee also referred a Criminal Procedure Act amendment, representatively proposed by Rebuilding Korea Party Representative Cha Gyu-geun, to the subcommittee.
This bill also centers on the abolition of supplementary investigation rights.
An amendment to the Special Prosecutor Act, which includes expanding the scope of investigations and the number of dispatched officials for a comprehensive special prosecutor investigating remaining allegations following the three major special prosecutor investigations, as well as introducing attorneys for maintaining public prosecutions, was also referred to the subcommittee.
Regarding the amendment, a professional committee member of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee reported, "The investigation deadline under the current law is July 24," adding, "Discussion is needed on whether it is appropriate to expand the scope of the investigation."
This bill was proposed in March and does not contain provisions regarding the extension of the special prosecutor's investigation period.
However, as the special prosecutor's office recently requested a legal amendment from the Legislation and Judiciary Committee for an additional extension of the investigation period, it is expected that discussions on this matter will also take place in the subcommittee.
The PPP protested strongly in front of the meeting hall before the session began on this day, stating, "Immediately stop the dogmatic operation of the standing committee."
When Legislation and Judiciary Committee Chair Seo Young-kyo of the DP attempted to start the meeting, PPP members entered the hall, leading to a standoff between the ruling and opposition parties.
During the meeting, differences in temperature among lawmakers in the pan-opposition bloc were also evident regarding the "cautious approach to abolishing supplementary investigation rights," which has gained traction in some quarters following the Jang Yun-gi case, the perpetrator of the "high school girl murder."
DP Representative Kim Nam-hee mentioned the case and emphasized, "In the process of reform, no investigative agency should be allowed to wield unchecked power."
On the other hand, Rebuilding Korea Party Representative Park Eun-jung argued, "Prosecutorial reform is about solving structural problems," adding, "We should not solve this problem by giving investigative rights to prosecutors based on this case."
The Legislation and Judiciary Committee also voted to form the First Subcommittee under the leadership of the DP.
Chair Seo announced, "The subcommittee will begin its work starting Friday (July 10)."
Initially, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee intended to vote on about 40 bills that had been reviewed and sent up from other standing committees, but that plan was postponed.
This follows a request from the DP floor leadership, which is pushing for a plenary session on July 9, to postpone the processing at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in an attempt to reach an agreement on the legislative schedule with the PPP.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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