B. Main Topics
1) Controversy Over Adjustment of Investigative Powers and Problems with
Investigation Procedures for Human Rights Protection
A) Controversy over Amendment of the Criminal Procedure Act and the Prosecutors’
Office Act, and Establishment of the National Police Bureau
Investigations of crimes prior to 2021 were carried out by the police under the direction of
the prosecutors’ office.623) The police forwarded all the cases investigated to the prosecution
(no right to terminate the investigation), and the prosecution who received the cases decided
whether to exercise the right to prosecute. On the other hand, from 2021, according to the
revised ‘Criminal Procedure Act’ and the ‘Prosecutor’s Office Act,’ the prosecution’s right
to command investigations over the police is limited for crimes other than the six major
crimes,624) and the police have the authority to make decisions to forward with prosecution
or not on some cases. This change in the authority of the investigation is called ‘adjustment
of prosecutor and police power,’625) for short.
Since 2022, the Democratic Party of Korea, then the ruling party, promoted a complete
separation of prosecution and police powers of prosecution and investigation through
amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act and the Prosecutor’s Office Act. The main
content of the two proposed amendment in April 2022626) was that investigations were the
duties of judicial police officers (police officers), and investigations by prosecutors were
limited to exceptional cases stipulated in other laws (crimes related to the duties of police
officers, etc.). This proposed amendment was known as the “complete deprivation of the
prosecution’s right to investigate.”
623) In the following, the investigation by the High-ranking Public Officials Crime Investigation Agency and the special
judicial police officer will be discussed separately.
624) Corruption, economy, public officials, elections, defense projects, major disasters
625) According to the Policy Briefing of the Republic of Korea, the purpose of the adjustment of investigative powers
between the prosecution and the police is to break away from the vertical relationship of command and supervision
between the prosecution and the police, and to ensure that the investigative powers are exercised for the safety
and human rights of the people through decentralization of investigative powers and mutual checks.
626) Co-sponsored by 172 representatives, including Rep. Park, Hong-geun, Bill No. 2115286, Apr. 15, 2022, Co-sponsored
by 172 representatives, including Rep. Park, Hong-geun, Bill No. 2115284, Apr. 15, 2022
256
اختر الفقرة المستهدفة3
الاتصال بفقرة
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
أضف إلى جدول المحتويات