Democratic Party Proposes Bill to Fully Abolish Prosecutors' Supplementary Investigation Authority

[Anchor]

The Democratic Party of Korea proposed an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act today (July 9) that would fully abolish the prosecution's authority to conduct supplementary investigations. Instead, the bill includes provisions to strengthen the prosecution's power to demand supplementary investigations to prevent inadequate police investigations. It also includes a measure allowing prosecutors to request the replacement of officers in charge of cases.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon has the story.

[Reporter]

The amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act proposed by the Democratic Party calls for the full abolition of the prosecution's supplementary investigation authority.

First, it removes existing provisions such as Article 196 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which stipulates that "prosecutors shall investigate criminals, criminal facts, and evidence."

The bill strikes out clauses that explicitly list "prosecutors" as subjects of investigation, including supplementary investigations.

[Kim Han-kyu / Deputy Floor Leader for Policy, Democratic Party: There are many clauses where the subject of investigation is defined as 'prosecutors and judicial police officers.' We have now excluded prosecutors from those parts.]

Instead, the bill grants prosecutors the authority to demand supplementary investigations from other investigative agencies, such as the police.

If a judicial police officer fails to faithfully conduct a supplementary investigation after receiving such a demand, a prosecutor from the Public Prosecution Service may request the exclusion from duty, disciplinary action, or replacement of the officer in question.

Regarding concerns that investigations might be delayed without timely action, the bill sets a strict deadline, requiring judicial police officers who receive a demand for supplementary investigation to complete it within a maximum of two months, with two one-month extensions allowed.

[Kim Han-kyu / Deputy Floor Leader for Policy, Democratic Party: If they fail to conduct the supplementary investigation within the period, they will be subject to disciplinary action, exclusion from duty, and replacement.]

The bill also paves the way for other investigative agencies, such as a proposed Major Crimes Investigation Agency, to handle supplementary investigations.

The Democratic Party explained that in response to social concerns following cases such as the Jang Yoon-ki case, they have mandated that all case records, including lists of evidence, be sent to prosecutors for review to prevent police from concealing or downplaying cases.

The bill also includes provisions allowing victims, complainants, and legal representatives to report to prosecutors if they suspect unfair police investigations, enabling prosecutors to demand corrective measures from the police.

The Democratic Party plans to process the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act after review by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, aiming for passage before the party's national convention on August 17.

Reported by Oh Young-chun and Kim Yong-woo | Video by Jeon Min-gyu | Graphics by Jang Seong-beom and Lee So-jeong

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