Government and Ruling Party Push to Abolish Supplementary Investigation Rights

As the launch of the Public Prosecution Service and the Major Crimes Investigation Agency approaches in October, the government has reached an agreement to abolish supplementary investigation rights, which had previously been a point of contention with the ruling party. With the matter now in the hands of the National Assembly, concerns from opposition parties and some legal experts suggest that the judicial system may become paralyzed, indicating that the debate over the existence of supplementary investigation rights will continue for the foreseeable future.

According to legal sources on June 29, the government is hastening preparations for the establishment of the Major Crimes Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Service, which are set to launch on October 2 under the relevant legislation.

The preparatory committee for the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, has appointed Kim Min-jae as head and Lee Jin-yong as deputy head, and has begun formal preparations for the agency's launch.

Earlier, on June 24, the preparatory committee selected the Renaissance Square in Jung-gu, Seoul, as the main office for the Major Crimes Investigation Agency and completed the setup of the office. The committee explained that establishing the office in a separate location rather than a government building aligns with the agency's goal of separating investigation and prosecution.

As the launch of the agency approaches, the government has recently aligned with the ruling party's stance on abolishing supplementary investigation rights.

On June 25, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok held a press conference and officially announced, "The government has finalized its position to abolish supplementary investigation rights as its fundamental stance." Initially, the government had taken a cautious approach to abolishing these rights after President Lee Jae-myung stated that "at least some post-verification functions should remain." However, it ultimately accepted the ruling party's demand for a complete organizational separation of investigation and prosecution.

As a result, the Public Prosecution Service will be under the Ministry of Justice, focusing solely on prosecution and case management, while the Major Crimes Investigation Agency and the National Investigation Agency will handle investigations.

Immediately following the government announcement, the ruling party initiated the legislative process. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min and Justice Innovation Party lawmaker Park Eun-jung introduced a bill to completely exclude direct investigative powers for prosecutors.

The proposed amendment includes a provision that does not grant prosecutors direct supplementary investigation rights but introduces a "supplementary investigation request right" for police, with a three-month compliance deadline. If police fail to comply without just cause, the head of the Public Prosecution Service can request their suspension or replacement, establishing an indirect control mechanism.

Additionally, the amendment proposes to shorten the detention period during the investigation stage from 30 days to 21 days and introduces conditional release and a protection officer for investigative rights, among other significant measures to enhance the protection of suspects' rights.

However, concerns persist in the field. Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, a former prosecutor, expressed on social media on June 27, "If prosecutors do not have supplementary investigation rights, there will be situations where they have no choice but to release suspects without charges in major cases or highly specialized crimes," criticizing the abolition of these rights as "deterioration, not reform."

Indeed, academic statistics indicate that since the adjustment of investigative rights in 2021, the average processing time for criminal cases has surged from 126.8 days in 2018 to 312.7 days in 2024, raising concerns that the complete abolition of direct supplementary investigation rights will exacerbate judicial delays.

To address these concerns about judicial paralysis and the need for human rights protection, a forum hosted by the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice on June 29 strongly advocated for the establishment of an independent "Investigation Procedure Act."

Participants pointed out that the current Criminal Procedure Act, established in 1954, was designed with the assumption that prosecutors are the "conductors of investigations," and merely deleting the term "prosecutor" from the text would not adequately encompass the diverse investigative entities and special judicial police procedures.

Moreover, to respond to "judicial emergencies" such as impending statutes of limitations or concerns about the destruction of digital evidence, suggestions were made to legislate a British-style "Investigation Action Plan" or "Early Advice" system instead of allowing prosecutors to directly conduct investigations.

Additionally, it was proposed that the Investigation Procedure Act redefine non-coercive activities performed by prosecutors, such as requesting mitigating materials or verifying judgments, as "pre-filing fact verification" to prevent practical paralysis.

Some voices within the legal community are also expressing concerns about the abolition of supplementary investigation rights.

A lawyer from Seocho-dong stated in a conversation with Aju Economy, "One of the most important functions of the state is to catch and punish criminals. This was also one of the most important considerations in ancient Chinese states, and there are many concerns about whether this system can function properly now."

He added, "If some political prosecutors are the problem, we should correct that, rather than abolishing the institution (the prosecution). I question why we are eliminating the institution and its functions. The government tends to respond to issues by dismantling institutions. This administration has previously eliminated the National Intelligence Service's information division, and during the Park Geun-hye administration, the Coast Guard was also disbanded. Recently, there has been talk of dismantling the Election Commission due to election issues. This approach is concerning."

Another lawyer expressed similar concerns, stating, "Many people are worried that the government and ruling party are criminalizing or demonizing supplementary investigation rights. How beneficial is this to our criminal justice system? The balance of power is crucial in investigative agencies, and if the prosecution's power is already diminished, taking away even the exceptional supplementary investigation rights will eliminate all checks on the police."

He continued, "There are significant concerns about how to harmoniously operate the various investigative agencies that will proliferate in the future. For instance, whether the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, the Major Crimes Investigation Agency, or the police will be able to effectively regulate each other is a pressing concern."