Kim Yong-min of the Democratic Party of Korea said, "Supplementary investigation authority must not be left in place even as an exception," and "From now on, the National Assembly must take the lead in amending the Criminal Procedure Act."
On the 18th, lawmaker Kim Yong-min held a press briefing on prosecution reform bills at the National Assembly members' office building. Regarding the final versions of the Public Prosecution Office Act and the Serious Crimes Investigation Office Act that Democratic Party of Korea leader Jung Chung-rae released the previous day, Kim said, "Although not 100% of the issues raised by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee have been reflected, a significant portion of the core poison-pill provisions has been removed."
Kim added, "It is hard to say they have been completely removed because the issue of supplementary investigation authority remains," and "A more definitive assessment will be possible once the question of whether to keep supplementary investigation authority is finally decided in June, but for now, since that issue remains, there are limits; still, the overall risk has been substantially reduced."
On Article 4 of the Public Prosecution Office Act, Kim said, "Amendments were made because there were major concerns about prosecutors securing investigation powers indirectly and excessive control over investigative agencies such as the police." In particular, on subsection 2's provision on "directing warrant requests and executions," Kim pointed out, "A single period inserted in the middle functioned structurally to modify both the request and the execution, which could in effect expand prosecutors' authority to intervene in investigations."
In addition, the authority to direct and supervise special judicial police officers, which had been set out in subsection 4, was also deleted. Kim said, "There were concerns that the provision on directing and supervising special judicial police could serve as a channel for prosecutors to secure investigation powers indirectly, and it was deleted to block such a possibility."
Regarding the provisions on "authority under laws and regulations" included in subsections 8 and 9, Kim said, "In a structure where 'laws and regulations' can include enforcement rules or presidential decrees, direct investigation or supplementary investigation authority could later be expanded again through prosecutorial guidelines," adding, "Because a single expression like 'etc.' could keep reopening authority, we specified it clearly only by statute to block the possibility of granting investigative powers through presidential decrees."
Kim stressed that supplementary investigation authority must never be allowed in the process of amending the Criminal Procedure Act. Kim emphasized, "Because supplementary investigation authority has been excessively abused, prosecution reform began with cutting it off." Kim went on, "If investigations are allowed even in a limited way, they will inevitably expand, and then there will be no institution to control investigations," adding, "Supplementary investigations should be done by investigative agencies, not by prosecutors."
Kim also made a clear statement on who should legislate. Kim said, "Amending the Criminal Procedure Act must be led by the National Assembly," and "Even if the government drafts an initial bill, the National Assembly should take the lead in coordinating and producing a compromise." Kim added, "The Criminal Procedure Act is one of the six basic codes that form the foundation of the Republic of Korea, so I believe the National Assembly, which holds legislative power, should take the lead in the discussion."