Lawmakers from the pan-opposition bloc, including Rep. Kim Yong-min of the Democratic Party of Korea, Rep. Park Eun-jung of the Rebuilding Korea Party, and independent lawmaker Choi Hyuk-jin, have decided to propose an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act aimed at the complete abolition of the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights.

Rep. Kim Yong-min held a press conference at the National Assembly today (June 26) and stated, "We are proposing this amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act today, which was prepared after lawmakers commissioned policy development and civil society deliberated on it for several months."

In addition to Reps. Kim Yong-min, Park Eun-jung, and Choi Hyuk-jin, Democratic Party Reps. Kim Young-ho and Seo Young-kyo also attended the press conference.

They described the amendment as a "civil society proposal that completely separates investigation and prosecution without any investigative vacuum by fully abolishing prosecutors' investigative and command powers, strictly blocking the exercise of investigative command over special judicial police officers, and effectively designing the right to request supplementary investigations."

They emphasized, "This is a comprehensive amendment consisting of 106 articles," adding that it is "the starting point for correcting the outdated framework that has supported the prosecutor-dominant criminal justice system for 72 years from its roots."

Rep. Kim said, "This bill includes detailed mechanisms to strongly protect the human rights of citizens, such as prohibiting excessive repeated summons, introducing a pre-warrant interrogation system for search and seizure warrants, establishing an investigation human rights protection officer, and a conditional release system." He added, "It also opens a path to curb the abuse of prosecution rights by prosecutors through a prosecution deliberation committee composed of citizens and to provide early relief to innocent citizens from unlawful indictments."

The lawmakers emphasized the need for the swift passage of the bill and urged the immediate commencement of legislative review through the prompt formation of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in the second half of the National Assembly.

(Photo: Yonhap News)