[Anchor]

The amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, which completely abolishes prosecutors' direct investigative powers, has been approved by the Cabinet. President Lee Jae-myung decided not to exercise his veto power, stating that although controversies exist, it does not reach the level of denying the National Assembly's legislative authority.

Reporter Kang Cheongwan has the details.

[Reporter]

The amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, which completely abolishes prosecutors' direct investigative powers including supplementary investigation rights, was passed during the Cabinet meeting.

Once the new bill takes effect, the entity responsible for investigations will be unified under the police, while prosecutors will exclusively handle indictments and the maintenance of prosecutions.

This effectively marks a total overhaul of the criminal justice system that has been in place for some 70 years.

Chairing the Cabinet meeting, President Lee made these remarks while acknowledging that there are numerous controversies and differing opinions.

[President Lee Jae-myung : It is difficult to view this bill as a situation serious enough to deny the National Assembly's legislative authority, such as being unconstitutional, impossible to execute, harmful to national interests, or infringing upon the executive branch's inherent powers.]

President Lee added that constitutional legal scholars hold the view that exercising a veto cannot simply be done because of a difference in opinion, but is only possible in cases that violate the separation of powers or breach the constitutional order, and that current circumstances do not warrant viewing the legislative power as having been negated.

This clearly signaled his intention not to exercise the veto that had been demanded by the opposition party and parts of civil society regarding the bill.

President Lee emphasized that the separation of investigation and indictment is a starting point to normalize an abnormal criminal justice system, pointing out that certain groups within the prosecution have abused excessive authority with impunity, repeatedly engaging in collateral investigations and exhaustive targeted investigations as routine practices.

[President Lee Jae-myung : To more stably protect the lives of the people, this is an inevitable and rightful measure to place all power agencies without exception under the control of the public.]

President Lee also stated that as concerns grow over the police monopolizing and expanding their investigative powers following the abolition of prosecutors' investigative powers, thorough complementary measures are necessary to address this.

(Camera filming: Jeong Sang-bo, Ha Ryung | Video editing: Oh Young-taek)