Some lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Korea and the Rebuilding Korea Party, among the broader pro-government bloc, argued that the Criminal Procedure Act should be revised to completely exclude the prosecution's direct investigative authority and supplementary investigation authority. Separate from the government's draft amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act now being prepared, they drew up their own bill. There was also a call for the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission, not the prosecution, to exercise the authority for supplementary investigations.
Democratic Party lawmakers Seo Young-kyo, Kim Yong-min, and Kim Young-ho, Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Park Eun-jeong, and independent lawmaker Choi Hyuk-jin held a news conference titled "Call for a citizen-led new Criminal Procedure Act amendment" at the National Assembly on the morning of the 5th. The citizen-led group that proposed the Criminal Procedure Act amendment is an organization formed by experts and civil society, centered on Seoul National University Law School professor Han In-seop.
The citizen group said, "We have had months of intense debate and deliberation, and finally on May 8 we presented the framework of the amendment to the public at a National Assembly seminar," adding, "The bill is not for the benefit of any particular institution, but a Criminal Procedure Act befitting Korea's status at an advanced-country level, and we expect it to present a K-Criminal Procedure Act model for a popular sovereignty government in which the people are the true owners."
The citizen group proposed adding language to the Criminal Procedure Act stating, "Prosecutors cannot conduct supplementary investigations directly and may only request supplementary investigations from judicial police officers." It also emphasized ▲ the normative and institutional complete separation of investigation and indictment ▲ strengthening safeguards for citizens' human rights throughout the investigative process. In particular, it opposed the prosecution's "command over investigations" and "forwarding of entire case files," and argued that pre-hearings for search-and-seizure warrants and mandatory recording of suspects' statements should be newly introduced to protect human rights.
Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min, who served as a secretary of The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said, "I repeatedly called for the party to prepare the Criminal Procedure Act in advance," adding, "The bill released today (the 5th) was produced by civil society and is a kind of model answer."
Independent lawmaker Choi Hyuk-jin, who previously served on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said, "The Ministry of Justice and the prosecution are effectively waging a public-opinion campaign by successively publishing 'collections of best practices in supplementary investigations,'" adding, "This amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act must include a provision transferring the authority related to supplementary investigations to the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission."