Members of the ruling coalition and Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-ho called on June 5 for a complete abolition of the prosecution's investigative and directive powers, as well as a ban on excessive repeated summons, as part of a proposed overhaul of the criminal procedure law.
During a press conference at the National Assembly, lawmakers Kim Yong-min, Kim Young-ho, Park Eun-jung of the Justice Reform Party, and independent lawmaker Choi Hyuk-jin stated, "We stand at a new starting point to realize complete democracy and the rule of law. We aim to propose a new criminal procedure law that fully implements the principles of separation of powers and due process in practical settings."
They explained that the need for this amendment arose from the recent special committee investigation into allegations of politically motivated prosecutions, which highlighted the reality of prosecutorial abuse of power. They emphasized that demands to structurally control targeted investigations, information monopolization, and planned investigations that bypass due process have grown stronger.
The proposed amendment advocates for the complete separation of investigative and prosecutorial powers by abolishing the prosecution's investigative and directive authority. They stressed that with the establishment of the Public Prosecution Office and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, it is essential to revise the provisions related to the prosecution's direct investigative powers, with the core principle being the separation of powers and mutual checks.
Additionally, they aim to prevent attempts to transfer all cases to prosecutors under the 'complete case transfer principle' and to exercise 'investigative directive authority' over special judicial police officers.
The new criminal procedure law would also include provisions to enhance practical human rights protections, such as banning excessive repeated summons and reducing detention periods to seven days. They proposed measures to curb the abuse of the prosecutor's warrant application and indictment powers, including the introduction of an objective duty for prosecutors, a citizen-led prosecution review committee, and strengthened provisions for dismissal of charges in cases of significant deviation.
Furthermore, Kim Yong-min reiterated the need for the party to draft a new criminal procedure law amendment before the government proposal is released. He stated, "I suggested that the party create a separate proposal before the government plan was prepared, but I received feedback that it would be difficult before the local elections, so we created a separate proposal. This way, the National Assembly can quickly amend the government proposal during the legislative process."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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