[Anchor]
The People Power Party has proposed amendments to existing laws that would maintain the prosecution's authority to request supplementary investigations. Labeled the '3 Victim Protection Acts,' the proposal includes a provision requiring mandatory cooperation between the prosecution and the police from the initial stage of an investigation for major crimes, such as the 'Jang Yoon-gi case.'
Reporter Park Chan-beom has the story.
[Reporter]
The People Power Party officially proposed three legislative amendments—to the Criminal Procedure Act, the Act on the Establishment of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, and the Public Prosecution Service Act—as the '3 Victim Protection Acts' on Wednesday, July 15.
This move is intended to emphasize that the Democratic Party's push to abolish the prosecution's supplementary investigation authority runs counter to the protection of crime victims.
While the Democratic Party's bill seeks to completely abolish the investigative powers of prosecutors, the People Power Party's proposal allows for supplementary investigations specifically for cases transferred from the police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), as well as crimes committed by law enforcement officials.
Furthermore, for major crimes such as the Jang Yoon-gi case, the bill mandates cooperation between the prosecution and the police from the moment an investigation begins.
[Kwak Kyu-taek / Chairman of the Legal Advisory Committee, People Power Party: In cases of major crimes, such as the Gwangju high school girl murder case, prosecutors will be able to participate from the moment a judicial police officer initiates an investigation.]
The People Power Party explained that they have significantly expanded the scope of cases that must be referred to the prosecution—including cases where complainants have filed objections—to prevent what are known as 'buried cases,' where evidence is destroyed during the police investigation stage.
Additionally, the party stated that they have removed the authority to withdraw an indictment from the Criminal Procedure Act amendment to ensure that prosecutors are not pressured to drop charges or do so arbitrarily.
[Park Chung-kwon / Senior Deputy Floor Leader, People Power Party: This is to prevent a special counsel act aimed at withdrawing the indictment of President Lee Jae-myung. If this bill is passed, the special counsel act for the withdrawal of indictments will also become meaningless.]
However, with the People Power Party holding only 110 seats in the National Assembly, it is impossible for them to pass the bills unilaterally. Given the significant gap between their proposal and the Democratic Party's bill, an agreement appears unlikely.
(Video reporting: Lee Seung-hwan, Shin Dong-hwan | Video editing: Nam Il | Design: Choi Jin-hye)
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