As the ruling pan-minoritized/opposition-leaning bloc attempts to forcefully process amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act containing the abolition of prosecutors' supplementary investigation rights at the National Assembly plenary session, criminal law professors nationwide have expressed opposition, stating, "We express serious concern over reform methods lacking sufficient deliberation."

They issued a statement today (July 30) saying, "While we generally agree with the separation of investigation and indictment, it must not mean a complete severance between investigation and indictment."

A total of 62 criminal law experts, including current and former law professors such as Ko Myung-soo, a professor at Seoul National University School of Law, and Kang Dong-beom, professor emeritus at Ewha Womans University School of Law, as well as research fellows from the Korean Women's Development Institute, put their names on the statement.

They urged, "The prosecutor's supplementary investigation right must be maintained as a means to control and supplement police investigations," adding, "Methods of controlling police investigations, such as prosecutors' investigative command, supplementary investigation, and full case forwarding (a system where all cases investigated by the police are handed over to the prosecution), should be re-examined."

They also pointed out that concerns that maintaining supplementary investigation rights could lead to past abuses of prosecutorial power cannot serve as a justification for abolishing them.

Furthermore, they noted, "Limited supplementary investigations into cases initiated by the police are different from the past exercise of unlimited investigative powers by the prosecution," adding, "Abuses of supplementary investigation rights can be institutionally controlled, and the side effects of complete abolition could be greater."

They also emphasized the necessity of judicial control mechanisms over special judicial police.

They explained, "The prosecutors' investigative command over special judicial police must also be maintained," adding, "Since the investigative procedure is the first stage of the criminal procedure, issues of prosecution reform and supplementary investigation rights should be decided based on the legal principles of judicial procedures rather than political interests."

They stated, "Opposition to the complete abolition of supplementary investigation rights should not be dismissed as partisan logic," and added, "We express serious concern over the reform method of pushing forward with amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act, which affects all citizens, in a blitz manner without sufficient deliberation."

(Photo: Yonhap News)