The Lawyers for Human Rights and Unification of Korea (Hanbyeon) said on the 5th, "The Democratic Party of Korea's four legislative measures for prosecutorial reform aim to completely seize state investigative powers by political authority, so they must be withdrawn."
That day, Hanbyeon issued a statement saying, "This regime, including the ruling party, misleads the narrative that prosecutorial reform is meant to realize true popular sovereignty, but the reality of the bills is far from that."
It noted, "Looking at other advanced countries, the distribution of investigative powers between prosecutors and police varies according to each country's historical experiences and circumstances, and it is not necessarily the case that investigative powers and indictment powers are separated; rather, there is a trend toward the integration of investigative and indictment powers for serious crimes."
Hanbyeon asked, "How can one explain the contradiction of having the three major special investigations and the CIO, which are being created under the pretext of ensuring the independence and fairness of investigations, while also being responsible for both investigation and indictment?"
Hanbyeon expressed concern, stating, "What is even more worrying is the establishment of the National Investigation Committee under the pretext of coordinating the limitations of a much more complicated investigative system than before." It further questioned, "If the National Investigation Committee decides to abuse its investigative command authority, who can check it?" and added, "If the supplementary investigation powers of prosecutors are abolished, issues such as investigation delays, regression in victim rights protection, and the excessive power of the police will become serious."
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is pushing for prosecutorial reform aimed at separating investigative and indictment powers. To this end, it plans to abolish the prosecution office and transfer the investigative authority of prosecutors to the Serious Crime Investigation Agency under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Additionally, it plans to create an indictment office under the Ministry of Justice, ensuring that prosecutors only maintain indictment and prosecution functions. The ruling party is expected to finalize a government organization bill containing these details in discussions with the government and the presidential office on the 7th.