The Democratic Party of Korea (DP), which has established a policy to abolish the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights, opened a standing committee meeting today (July 8) and began discussions on amending the Criminal Procedure Act.

As the DP accelerates its efforts with the goal of passing the bill before its national convention on August 17, the People Power Party (PPP)—which is boycotting the National Assembly's standing committee schedule in protest of the DP's unilateral formation of the assembly—visited the meeting venue on this day and strongly protested, demanding, "Stop the hasty abolition of supplementary investigation rights."

The DP held a plenary session of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee today and referred 55 bills, including a Criminal Procedure Act amendment jointly proposed by its own lawmaker Kim Yong-min and Park Eun-jung of the Rebuilding Korea Party, which centers on abolishing the prosecution's supplementary investigation rights, to the First Subcommittee on Bill Review.

The core of the Criminal Procedure Act amendment is to fully abolish the prosecution's direct investigation rights and supplementary investigation rights, unifying the subject of investigation under the police (judicial police officers).

If amended as proposed, prosecutors would hold the role of initiating and maintaining public prosecutions and would have the right to request supplementary investigations from the police.

The bill also includes provisions to appoint investigation human rights protection officers at each investigative agency to handle complaints regarding human rights violations and significant abuses of investigative power during the investigation process, as well as to strengthen the protection of human rights and ensure due process during the execution of warrants.

It also contains provisions to establish public prosecution review committees at each district court to deliberate and decide on the appropriateness of a prosecutor's decision to indict, and to determine whether to proceed with the indictment based on those decisions.

Furthermore, the bill includes clauses that explicitly state processing deadlines for investigations and indictments.

Apart from the bill by Rep. Kim and others, the DP is drafting its own amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act regarding the abolition of supplementary investigation rights based on discussions from its internal task force (TF) on Criminal Procedure Act reform.

The TF plans to propose the amendment within this week, and it is expected to be reviewed in conjunction with the bills from Rep. Kim and Rep. Park at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

Han Byung-do, the DP's acting leader and floor leader, stated yesterday (July 7), "The complete abolition of supplementary investigation rights is the DP's unwavering principle, and there is no disagreement within the party." Kim Han-kyu, the senior deputy floor leader for policy, previously emphasized regarding the timing of the bill's passage, "There is no plan to process it after the national convention (on August 17)."

The Legislation and Judiciary Committee also referred a Criminal Procedure Act amendment proposed by Cha Gyu-keun of the Rebuilding Korea Party to the subcommittee.

This bill also centers on the abolition of supplementary investigation rights.

An amendment to the Special Prosecutor Act, which expands the scope of investigations and the number of dispatched officials for a comprehensive special counsel investigating remaining suspicions following the three major special investigations, and introduces the role of public prosecution maintenance attorneys, was also referred to the subcommittee.

The PPP protested strongly in front of the meeting venue before the session began that day, demanding, "Immediately stop the unilateral operation of the standing committee."

When Seo Young-kyo, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee Chair from the DP, attempted to start the meeting, PPP members entered the venue, leading to a standoff between the ruling and opposition parties.

During the meeting, differences in opinion emerged among lawmakers within the pan-ruling camp regarding the "cautious approach to abolishing supplementary investigation rights," which has gained traction in some quarters following the Jang Yoon-ki case, a suspect in the murder of a high school girl.

DP lawmaker Kim Nam-hee mentioned the case and emphasized, "In the process of reform, no investigative agency should be allowed to wield unchecked power."

On the other hand, Park Eun-jung of the Rebuilding Korea Party argued, "Prosecution reform is about solving structural problems," adding, "We should not solve problems by giving investigative rights to prosecutors based on this case."

The Legislation and Judiciary Committee also passed the motion to form the First Subcommittee under the leadership of the DP.

Chair Seo announced, "We will begin subcommittee proceedings starting Friday (July 10)."

Initially, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee intended to vote on about 40 bills that had been reviewed and sent from other standing committees, but it postponed that plan.

This follows a request from the DP floor leadership, which is pushing for a plenary session on July 9, to delay the processing at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in an attempt to reach an agreement on the parliamentary schedule with the PPP.

Meanwhile, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee decided to file a complaint against Kim Tae-young, CEO of the interior design firm 21gram, for perjury in connection with the "suspicions surrounding the relocation of President Yoon Suk Yeol's official residence."

CEO Kim is accused of falsely testifying during the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's parliamentary audit last October when asked, "Did 21gram perform the expansion of the official residence?" by answering, "No, we did not."

(Photo: Yonhap News)