The Democratic Party of Korea adopted as its party line an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act that bans prosecutors from conducting direct investigations, including supplementary investigations by prosecutors. Crimes targeting the socially vulnerable must be sent to the prosecution in all cases (full-case transfer), and a dedicated unit for supplementary investigations will be created within the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency to carry them out. The obligation of special judicial police to transfer all cases will also be retained.
On the afternoon of the 24th at the National Assembly, after a general meeting of lawmakers, Democratic Party spokesperson for the floor Lee Ju-hee met with reporters and said, "We approved the party line at the general meeting so that a new system can take hold on Oct. 2," adding, "It maintains the principle of separating investigation and indictment and bans prosecutors' direct investigations."
Regarding the Criminal Procedure Act amendment, the Democratic Party set its legislative direction as follows: ▲ separation of investigation and indictment and a ban on prosecutors' direct investigations ▲ expanded measures to protect victims ▲ stronger checks on investigative agencies.
For victim protection measures, a plan was proposed to mandate transfer to the prosecution by selecting seven crimes targeting the socially vulnerable. The seven crimes are expected to include sex crimes, child sex crimes, stalking crimes, abuse of persons with disabilities, and elder abuse. However, the provision on full-case transfer for the seven crimes will be included in individual laws, not in the Criminal Procedure Act.
Checks on the police were decided in the form of creating a dedicated supplementary investigation unit within the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency. Accordingly, the law on the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, which passed the National Assembly plenary session on Mar. 3, must be amended. Officials also explained that a National Investigation and Human Rights Protection Officer under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety would be newly created to prevent the side effects of investigative agencies' powers becoming bloated.
Kim Han-kyu, the Democratic Party's senior deputy floor leader for policy, said, "We also plan to add a provision to digitize all investigative materials so that if a prosecutor, while reviewing the records, discovers leads to another crime, the prosecutor can request an investigation from a judicial police officer," adding, "We have put in place robust measures to prevent human rights violations during investigations by installing oversight bodies such as the Investigation Human Rights Protection Officer."
He went on, "Opinions on specific provisions will likely be discussed until midnight today at the subcommittee of The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and we will work on drafting," adding, "There were proposed revisions, but the task of organizing the opinions was delegated to the floor leader, and it was adopted without objection."
Regarding the obligation of special judicial police to transfer all cases, Deputy Senior Floor Leader Kim said, "There were requests that, because special judicial police lack legal knowledge and investigative experience in the field, the prosecution should make the final determination," adding, "We made it possible to seek opinions on determinations of guilt or innocence in cooperation with prosecutors."
The Democratic Party is moving quickly to handle the Criminal Procedure Act amendment. The amendment, which is going through article-by-article drafting at Subcommittee 1 for bill review of The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, is expected to clear the subcommittee on the 27th. The Democratic Party plans to continue deliberations on the Criminal Procedure Act amendment at a full meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee next week.