DP-Led Public Administration Committee Passes Revised Serious Crime Investigation Agency Bill Including Supplementary Investigation Rights for 7 Vulnerable-Group Crimes

The National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee held its 1st Subcommittee for Bill Review today (the 14th) and passed a revised bill on the establishment of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency led by the Democratic Party, granting the agency the power to conduct supplementary investigations and reinvestigations into crimes targeting socially vulnerable groups.

Subcommittee Chair Lee Hae-shik met with reporters after the subcommittee meeting concluded and announced this.

The revised bill includes provisions requiring prosecutors affiliated with the prosecution service to request the Serious Crime Investigation Agency or regional serious crime investigation agencies to conduct supplementary investigations or reinvestigations regarding the so-called "seven major crimes," which include child abuse, domestic violence, sex crimes, child sex crimes, stalking, abuse of persons with disabilities, and elder abuse.

It also included attacks on national core infrastructure such as nuclear power plants, dams, and communication networks as serious crimes, and explicitly stipulated requests for the transfer of cases that other investigative agencies notified them of having perceived.

Furthermore, if investigative agencies fail to comply with correction requests from prosecution service prosecutors due to violations of laws or human rights infringements, the Serious Crime Investigation Agency is enabled to continue the investigation.

The revisions to the addenda also include reflecting the legal status and authority necessary for the performance of duties of the head and investigators of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency across nine laws, including the Minor Offenses Act and the Civil Procedure Act.

The People Power Party boycotted the meeting in protest against the unilateral table-forwarding of the bill.

People Power Party lawmakers belonging to the Public Administration and Security Committee criticized the move through a statement, saying, "Instead of reviving supplementary investigation rights, the Democratic Party chose to create a new supplementary investigation organization within the Serious Crime Investigation Agency," and adding, "As the once-broken criminal justice system spins out of control, they are dismantling and fixing it all over again."

The People Power Party's Public Administration and Security Committee members argued, "Rather than creating a new organization within a new agency, they should simply revive prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights to rectify sloppy police investigations and the burying of cases," and stated, "That is the way to protect crime victims and set right the collapsed criminal justice system."

The Public Administration and Security Committee plans to hold a full committee meeting tomorrow to process six pieces of follow-up legislation to the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Act, including the revised Serious Crime Investigation Agency Bill, the Public Official Election Act, and the Act on Assembly and Demonstration.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.