Minister Cheon Dae-yeop appeared before the National Assembly's Legislative and Judiciary Committee on the 12th and said, "The Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office needs to file an immediate appeal regarding the court's decision to cancel President Yoon Suk-yeol's detention." Following this statement, the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office noted in a message sent to the press that "we are currently reviewing the situation regarding today's Legislative and Judiciary Committee." Previously, at the direction of Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jeong, the prosecution had given up on the immediate appeal, and it remains to be seen whether this decision will be reversed.
The Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office stated in a notice sent to reporters around 7:10 p.m. that they are "currently reviewing the situation regarding today's Legislative and Judiciary Committee" and requested understanding that "we cannot confirm specific details."
The situation in the Legislative and Judiciary Committee appears to refer to Minister Cheon Dae-yeop's remarks during a current issue inquiry that "the prosecution must file an immediate appeal."
During the inquiry in the Legislative and Judiciary Committee, Chairperson Jeong Cheong-rae requested an explanation from Minister Cheon regarding the decision by the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 25 (Director General Ji Kwi-yeon) to exclude the "time" spent on the pre-detention hearing from the detention period.
According to the Criminal Procedure Act, when the prosecution requests a detention warrant against a suspect and the court conducts a pre-detention hearing, the period from when the investigative documents and evidence are received by the court until the decision is returned to the prosecution is excluded from the detention period. This extends the detention time since the prosecution was unable to investigate for the duration of the pre-detention hearing.
Generally, the prosecution has calculated the duration in days rather than hours. For example, if the prosecution sends documents to the court at 10 p.m. on the 1st and the documents are returned at 2 a.m. the next day, the elapsed time is 4 hours, but it is interpreted as taking 2 days, thereby extending the detention period by two days.
However, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 25, which cited the cancellation of President Yoon's detention, stated, "The increasing detention period is disadvantageous to the suspect, so it must be interpreted strictly," and declared that the "time" it took for the documents sent by the prosecution to be received by the court and returned should be excluded from the detention term. Based on this judgment, the court concluded that the prosecution should have canceled the detention since it filed charges after the expiration of President Yoon's detention period.
In response, Minister Cheon remarked, "There is no established case law regarding the exclusion of the duration of the detention substantive review (detention period), but it seems that many cases are based on days." However, he noted that "there are also opposing theories" and added, "We believe this matter is one that will be clarified through judgments from higher courts in a situation where there is currently no case law."
Minister Cheon continued, "The court seems to have made a decision somewhat different from practical standards, but I believe it has adopted the most stringent procedural position among various views in the academic field."
Chairperson Jeong Cheong-rae asked, "The deadline for the immediate appeal is 7 days, and the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office has waived the appeal. If the prosecution changes its position and appeals again, will Yoon Suk-yeol, the suspect, be detained again?" To this, Minister Cheon replied, "No, that is not the case." He further stated, "I understand that the immediate appeal period remains until Friday (14th)," and noted that there have been precedents where the suspect was released and then an immediate appeal was filed in three prior immediate appeal cases. He also mentioned, "The issues of dissent stemming from the immediate appeal and the question of the new recruit are logically inconsistent."
Earlier, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 25 (Director General Ji Kwi-yeon) accepted President Yoon's request for cancellation of detention on the 7th. The prosecution indicted President Yoon after the detention period had elapsed, and it was noted that there is a need to seek a ruling from the Supreme Court regarding procedural issues raised by President Yoon's side.
However, on the 8th, the prosecution decided not to file an immediate appeal, and Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jeong instructed the investigative team to facilitate President Yoon's release. The Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office stated that considering the Constitutional Court's rulings in 1993 and 2012 regarding the unconstitutionality of prosecutors filing immediate appeals against bail and suspension of detention, it was decided that not filing an immediate appeal against the detention cancellation would also be appropriate.