Minbyun Judicial Center: "Prosecutors' Supplementary Investigation Not the Sole Way to Protect Victims"

▲ Prosecutors' Office

The Judicial Center of Minbyun-Lawyers for a Democratic Society has stated that "the right to conduct supplementary investigations should be abolished in accordance with the principle of complete separation of investigation and indictment."

During a press conference held at the National Assembly Communication Hall today (July 22), the Minbyun Judicial Center argued, "Now is the golden time to complete prosecution reform through the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Act."

The center stated, "Recently, some ruling party lawmakers have been expressing differing opinions on this historic task, causing anxiety among citizens," adding that "retaining prosecutors' supplementary investigation authority cannot be the only way to robustly protect crime victims and the socially vulnerable."

Regarding measures to prevent poor or buried investigations by investigative agencies, the center explained, "In addition to granting prosecutors the authority to indict and request warrants, prosecutors indirectly control the investigative powers of investigative agencies through the right to request supplementary investigations, request corrective measures, request reinvestigations, review data on non-transferred cases, and review transferred cases involving objections."

It further noted, "The harmful effects of poor and buried investigations can be prevented by establishing systems for close cooperation between investigative and indicting agencies from the early stages of an investigation."

The Minbyun Judicial Center argued, "On the other hand, if prosecutors, who already possess two powerful authorities—the right to indict and the right to request warrants—also hold the direct investigative power of supplementary investigations, there is no way to prevent the resulting abuses."

It emphasized, "If a prosecutor holding warrant and indictment powers directly conducts supplementary investigations and indicts an innocent suspect, there is no way to control or prevent it," adding, "While robustly protecting crime victims is necessary, preventing wrongfully accused suspects and defendants from emerging is also an important value that the criminal justice system must uphold."

The Minbyun Judicial Center added that this stance does not represent the official position of Minbyun as a whole.

Launched in 2020, the Minbyun Judicial Center has conducted research and offered opinions regarding the reform of judicial, investigative, and intelligence agencies.

Previously, in an opinion survey on the Criminal Procedure Act amendment conducted among 403 members from June 30 to July 3, opinions favoring the partial or complete retention of prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights accounted for 67%.

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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