A revision bill to the Criminal Procedure Act, which completely abolishes prosecutors' direct investigative powers and supplementary investigative powers, has passed the cabinet meeting.

The government held a cabinet meeting presided over by President Lee Jae-myung to deliberate and vote on the revision bill to the Criminal Procedure Act.

The bill includes provisions deleting the legal grounds for prosecutors' direct investigative powers, such as case initiation, as well as supplementary investigative powers regarding transferred cases.

However, the bill allows prosecutors to request supplementary investigations from judicial police officers, in which case the police must complete the supplementary investigation within a maximum of two months.

It also includes provisions allowing courts to dismiss indictments for reasons such as severe illegal investigations or a significant deviation in prosecutorial discretion.

Once the new Criminal Procedure Act takes effect, the criminal justice system that has continued for some 70 years will undergo a complete transformation, unifying the subject of investigation under the police while prosecutors will be solely responsible for filing and maintaining indictments.

The ruling bloc, including the Democratic Party, has welcomed this as the "completion of prosecution reform" that solidifies the principle of separating investigation and indictment.

On the other hand, the conservative opposition, including the People Power Party, has criticized it as a "regressive revision" due to concerns such as the weakening of crime victim protection, and has called for President Lee to exercise his veto power.

President Lee has also previously mentioned the need to retain prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers in certain exceptional cases.

However, to prevent the issue of retaining supplementary investigative powers from escalating into a "political controversy," he reportedly decided to leave the matter to the National Assembly's judgment, and consequently, the cabinet approved the bill as deliberated and finalized by parliament without changes.

Meanwhile, a bill on the appointment of a special counsel to investigate allegations of infringement on citizens' voting rights, such as the ballot paper shortage incident during the 9th Simultaneous Local Elections (Election Commission Special Counsel Act), was also approved at the cabinet meeting.

Aiming to uncover the truth behind allegations of poor election management, including the ballot paper shortage issue that occurred in the last local election, the special counsel will be recommended through a public recommendation committee.

The special counsel team will be organized with a scale of around 165 members and can operate for a maximum of 170 days, including the preparation period.

The enforcement decree for the Special Act on Strengthening and Supporting the Competitiveness of the Semiconductor Industry (Semiconductor Special Act) also passed the cabinet meeting.

In accordance with the Semiconductor Special Act taking effect on the 11th of this month, the decree specifies the composition and operation of the Special Committee on Strengthening Semiconductor Industry Competitiveness and details support measures for semiconductor clusters.

(Photo: Yonhap News)