Lee Seok-yeon, Chairperson of the National Unity Committee, stated that the complete abolition of prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights, currently being pushed by the Democratic Party and other ruling party members, is unconstitutional.
In a post on his Facebook page, Chairperson Lee wrote, "The current Constitution stipulates that the power to request arrest warrants, detention warrants, and search and seizure warrants—which can be considered the core authority of investigations—is the exclusive and sole right of prosecutors." He added, "This has been consistently maintained since the Constitution of the Third Republic (the 5th constitutional amendment)."
He continued, "While the law does not prevent the abolition of the Prosecutors' Office to disperse the authority of prosecutors, the complete deprivation of the investigative power held by prosecutors as the subject of investigations violates the principle of constitutional systemic legitimacy and is likely unconstitutional." He further noted, "To completely strip prosecutors of their investigative powers, one must either amend the Constitution to change the warrant request right from 'prosecutors' to 'investigative agencies,' as it was in the founding Constitution, or delegate it to law."
Chairperson Lee wrote, "I believe that prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights must be recognized in some form, not only for the protection of victims, the discovery of substantive truth, and the realization of swift justice in criminal proceedings, but also to uphold the spirit of the Constitution." He added, "A responsible political party should not abandon the fundamental principles for the future of the community in the name of reform, merely to cater to their immediate support base or partisan interests."
He continued by emphasizing, "The system itself is neither good nor evil. It is a matter of the people who operate it. The issue of prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights should be discussed from that perspective." He concluded, "Furthermore, I earnestly hope that the current issues in our society, which are leading to serious national division, will be discussed and resolved based on legal stability and predictability, in accordance with the Constitution and sound public common sense. That is the path to realizing the political justice pursued by the Constitution and achieving social unity."
Chairperson Lee, who is classified as having conservative leanings and served as the Minister of Government Legislation during the Lee Myung-bak administration, was recruited to the election campaign committee of presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung ahead of last year's presidential election and was appointed as the chairperson of the presidential National Unity Committee after the election.
(Photo: Provided by the National Unity Committee, Yonhap News)