'Total Abolition of Supplementary Investigation Rights' Headed to Plenary Session Today... What Are the Contents of the Amendment?

[Anchor]

An amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act that completely strips prosecutors of their supplementary investigation powers is scheduled to be submitted to the plenary session today (July 30) under the leadership of the pan-ruling bloc. The amendment also includes a provision known as prosecutors' "fact-finding right," which cannot be used as evidence in trials.

Reporter Ha Jeongyeon explains.

[Reporter]

PT In the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, which has entered the final countdown to legislation led by the pan-ruling bloc, the word "prosecutor"—previously written as the subject in provisions stating that "prosecutors investigate criminals, criminal facts, and evidence," as well as investigation-related provisions such as summoning suspects and emergency arrests—has been systematically deleted.

This means the complete deprivation of prosecutors' investigative powers, including supplementary investigation rights.

A new explicit provision will also be established stating that "prosecutors are responsible for indicting and maintaining prosecutions, while the police are responsible for investigations."

In the case of arrest warrants, prosecutors' authority will be restricted so that they can only request them upon application by the police.

Instead, the Democratic Party revised a significant number of related provisions, claiming it would make prosecutors' right to demand supplementary investigations more practical.

The existing provision stating that the police "must fulfill" prosecutors' requests for supplementary investigations "without delay" was changed to set a "deadline" of "fulfillment within one month," and was modified to allow prosecutors to designate a higher investigative agency when making requests.

A "right to raise objections" was also established to allow complainants and others to take issue with police delays in handling cases or illegal investigations, which the Democratic Party explained as a "measure to protect victims."

While there are major concerns that the "right to demand supplementary investigations" alone is insufficient to properly keep the police in check, the Democratic Party also newly created prosecutors' "fact-finding right."

This allows prosecutors to listen to the opinions of individuals involved in a case or receive related materials. However, the problem is that a proviso has been attached stating that it "cannot be used as evidence in trials."

This means it is merely for prosecutors to reference when deciding whether to reinvestigate, and holds no evidentiary power in itself.

[Seo Young-kyo / Chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee (Democratic Party Lawmaker): We must move toward a criminal justice system that more densely protects the people's fundamental rights, decentralizes authority, and clarifies responsibility.]

[Joo Jin-woo / People Power Party Lawmaker: (Prosecutors) have to hand cases over to other agencies even while clearly seeing the evidence. Will criminals just sit idly by during that time? If it is rushed through like this, I believe the damage will ultimately fall upon the public.]

Today, the Democratic Party is expected to submit the amendment to the National Assembly plenary session, while the People Power Party is likely to counter with an unlimited debate, or filibuster.

Following this, the Democratic Party is anticipated to force a termination tomorrow and attempt to pass the bill in the plenary session.

(Camera Reporter: Shin Donghwan, Kim Yongwoo | Video Editing: Jeon Mingyu | Design: Hwang Seyeon)

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