[Anchor]

The revision to the Criminal Procedure Act, which completely abolishes prosecutors' investigative powers, passed the National Assembly last week. According to the revised law, an analysis shows that the dissolution of nine joint prosecution-police investigation units nationwide dealing with major livelihood crimes such as drug offenses and voice phishing is inevitable.

Reporter Ha Jeongyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

During a government agency work report held at the Blue House on the 5th, President Lee Jae-myung asked about the fate of the joint prosecution-police investigation units following the abolition of prosecutors' investigative powers.

[President Lee Jae-myung: It's not like these various joint prosecution-police investigation units we've been running so far have to be dismantled right away, right?]

[Yun Ho-jung / Minister of the Interior and Safety: Yes, they can be maintained. Perhaps a joint investigation unit involving the Prosecution Service, the National Office of Investigation, and the police will be created...]

[Chung Sung-ho / Minister of Justice: The legal basis for their operation is very weak. It is practically non-existent.]

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Justice gave conflicting answers, and concerns had already been raised in the National Assembly prior to the revision of the Criminal Procedure Act.

[Kim Nam-hee / Democratic Party Lawmaker (July 29, National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee plenary meeting): Because the legal basis for joint prosecution-police investigations will disappear, it may become difficult to maintain the joint investigation units after October...]

[Chung Sung-ho / Minister of Justice (July 29, National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee plenary meeting): I think they need to be wound up before then.]

Initially, during early discussions by the ruling-leaning parties, a provision stating that "the Prosecutor General may establish a joint response headquarters with the approval of the Minister of Justice" was included in some lawmakers' drafts of the Criminal Procedure Act. However, it was dropped from the final bill amid controversy that it would effectively resurrect prosecutors' investigative command authority.

The legal community widely interprets that under the revised Criminal Procedure Act, the participation of prosecutors—who lack investigative powers—in joint investigation units would constitute illegal investigations and is thus impossible.

[Cha Jin-ah / Professor, Korea University Law School: If the defendant argues, "This has no evidentiary value," and further claims, "This is an illegal investigation, so the indictment must be dismissed," (the court will have no choice but to accept it).]

Even a plan for prosecutors to participate solely in a legal advisory role is expected to be difficult to adopt in practice under the prohibitions on dispatch and the principle of separating investigation and prosecution.

[Yang Hong-seok / Lawyer: Because provisions explicitly stripping prosecutors of evidentiary capabilities have been inserted into the Criminal Procedure Act, it is expected that the defendant's side will contest this 100 percent.]

There are currently nine joint investigation units in operation.

They are jointly investigating major livelihood crimes such as securities fraud, drugs, and voice phishing.

After the revised Criminal Procedure Act takes effect this coming October, they face dissolution within 90 days.

(Video Editing: Jang Hyun-ki, Design: Lee Jae-jun)