As the Democratic Party of Korea moves to revise the Criminal Procedure Act to abolish prosecutors' supplementary investigation authority, it decided to hear from civil society and experts. With concerns growing over the abolition, the party appears to be slowing the pace.
The Democratic Party held a general meeting of lawmakers on the afternoon of the 14th and focused on prosecutorial reform issues, including the Criminal Procedure Act amendment bill. Floor leader Han Byeong-do said, "With a Criminal Procedure Act revision centered on the complete abolition of supplementary investigation authority, we must complete the final piece of prosecutorial reform," but added, "We are well aware that some quarters have raised various concerns, so we will continue thorough deliberation and intense debate."
After the meeting, lawmaker Lee Ju-hee told reporters, "Today's meeting is a process to improve the completeness of the bill so that the public can be more fully protected within the judicial system by supplementing areas that may emerge during prosecutorial reform." She added, "After today's meeting, we are preparing, as early as next week, a forum with experts participating," and said, "We will broadly gather public opinion." She also said, "Informally, centering on The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, we plan to collect opinions from civil society groups, victims' groups, and the legal and academic communities, among other groups."
At the general meeting of lawmakers that day, about 15 lawmakers reportedly expressed for-and-against views on the "complete abolition of supplementary investigation authority." Some lawmakers also openly voiced opposition to the complete abolition.
After the meeting, lawmaker Ko Min-jung told reporters, "There were concerns in some quarters that problems could arise from the complete disappearance of supplementary investigation authority."
Another lawmaker also said, "There were quite a lot of opinions that some functions of supplementary investigation authority are necessary," adding, "Including me, at least five or more people raised the need to retain part of it." The lawmaker continued, "There was related discussion in the lawmakers' Telegram chat as well, and while the prosecution abuses its investigative power, there were opinions asking whether the police would be free from abuses of investigative power."