Former chief prosecutors again pushed back, calling it a "clear illegal act," over the Prosecutors' Committee for Respecting Human Rights and the Future (Prosecutors' Future Committee) fact-finding team's attempt to obtain court records as it probes allegations of prosecutorial abuse of investigative power.
Former Suwon District Prosecutors' Office chiefs Hong Seung-uk, Kim Yu-cheol, and Shin Bong-su, and former Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office chief Song Gyeong-ho issued a statement on the 21st, saying the fact-finding team "is seeking to obtain the court records of the SSANGBANGWOOL remittances to North Korea case and other cases that are currently on trial," and arguing it is "an attempt that seriously undermines judicial independence and the fairness of trials."
They stressed that the Criminal Procedure Act strictly limits access to court records. For cases on trial, the law provides that defendants and their attorneys may apply to inspect and copy records to ensure the right to defense, and the point is that a Ministry of Justice directive or Supreme Prosecutors' Office guideline alone cannot expand who may inspect and copy.
The former chief prosecutors said, "The Ministry of Justice directive or the Supreme Prosecutors' Office guideline, which served as the basis for establishing the fact-finding team, is a lower norm than the Criminal Procedure Act," adding, "It cannot expand the subjects of record access set by law or create new access rights."
They also raised the question of whether the Ministry of Justice or the Supreme Prosecutors' Office leadership is demanding that frontline prosecutors provide court records without a clear legal basis and written directive. They argued, "There is no way prosecutors, as legal professionals, do not know this legal doctrine," and "If they are pressing frontline prosecutors, who are grappling with the legal basis, to provide records, that is a serious problem."
They also argued that providing or collecting court records without basis could raise criminal liability. Citing the possibility of abuse of authority to obstruct the exercise of rights, disclosure of official secrets, and violations of the Personal Information Protection Act, the former chief prosecutors urged, "The fact-finding team must immediately halt its unlawful attempts to secure records and clearly set out the legal basis."
On the 8th, they also issued a statement criticizing that the fact-finding team's activities could interfere with trials currently underway and infringe on the defendant's right to defense and the right to a fair trial.
The Prosecutors' Future Committee was launched on the 10th of last month with the stated aim of identifying alleged human rights violations by prosecutors and abuses of prosecutorial power. The subjects of investigation are seven cases: the SSANGBANGWOOL remittances to North Korea case, the Daejang-dong development scandal, the case of former Democratic Research Institute deputy director Kim Yong, the Wirye New Town case, the shooting death of a West Sea public official, the statistics manipulation case, and the so-called "Yoon Suk-yeol defamation" false reporting allegations.