What Happens After 'Abolition of Prosecutors' Investigative Powers'? Disbandment of 9 Joint Investigation Units Inevitable

[Anchor]

What will happen to the currently operating joint investigation teams between prosecutors and police now that prosecutors' investigative powers have been completely abolished? While new forms of joint investigations are being discussed, experts point out that disbandment is inevitable under the revised Criminal Procedure Act.

Reporter Ha Jeongyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

During a government agency work report held at the presidential office the day before yesterday (August 5), President Lee Jae-myung asked about the fate of the joint prosecution-police investigation units following the abolition of prosecutors' investigative powers.

[Lee Jae-myung / President: The various joint prosecution-police investigation units operating so far don't necessarily have to be dismantled, right?]

[Yun Ho-jung / Minister of the Interior and Safety: Yes, they can be maintained. Perhaps a joint investigation headquarters involving the prosecution service, the investigation agency, and the police will be created...]

[Chung Sung-ho / Minister of Justice: The legal basis for their operation is very weak. It is practically non-existent.]

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Justice gave conflicting answers, but concerns had already been raised in the National Assembly prior to the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Act.

[Kim Nam-hee / Democratic Party Lawmaker (July 29, National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee Full Meeting): Because the basis for joint prosecution-police investigations will disappear, it may become difficult to maintain the joint investigation units after October...]

[Chung Sung-ho / Minister of Justice (July 29, National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee Full Meeting): I believe they need to be wrapped up before that time.]

Initially, during early discussions among the ruling-leaning bloc, a provision stating that "the Prosecutor General can establish a joint response headquarters with the approval of the Minister of Justice" was included in some lawmakers' drafts of the Criminal Procedure Act. However, it was dropped from the final version amid controversy that it would effectively resurrect prosecutors' investigative command authority.

The prevailing legal interpretation is that prosecutors, who will lack investigative powers under the revised Criminal Procedure Act, participating in joint investigation units would constitute illegal investigations and is thus impossible.

[Cha Jin-ah / Professor, Korea University Law School: If (a defendant) argues, "This has no evidentiary admissibility," and further claims, "Because this is an illegal investigation, the indictment must be dismissed," (the court will have no choice but to accept it).]

The option of prosecutors participating solely in a legal advisory role is also expected to be realistically difficult to adopt under the prohibitions on dispatch and the principle of separating investigation and prosecution.

[Yang Hong-suk / Attorney: Because provisions stripping prosecutors of evidentiary admissibility have been explicitly inserted into the Criminal Procedure Act, it is expected that the defense will contest this 100 percent.]

There are currently nine joint investigation units in operation.

They are jointly investigating major livelihood crimes such as securities fraud, drug offenses, and voice phishing.

After the revised Criminal Procedure Act takes effect in October, they are poised to be disbanded within 90 days.

(Video Editing: Jang Hyun-ki, Design: Lee Jae-jun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.