Second Meeting of the Prosecution-Police Consultative Body Held… Prosecution States "Unrelated to Constitutional Court Jurisdiction Dispute Trial"

Kim Jong-hyun, Criminal Policy Officer at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (left), and Choi Jong-sang, Head of the Police Agency's Responsible Investigation System Maintenance TF, are getting out of a vehicle on the afternoon of the 7th to attend the 2nd working-level meeting of the prosecution-police consultative body held at the Ministry of Justice in the Government Complex Gwacheon.

[Asia Economy Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist Reporter] The working-level consultative body between the prosecution and the police held its second meeting to discuss follow-up measures for the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's national task of the 'Responsible Investigation System' and the so-called 'Complete Removal of Prosecution's Investigation Rights (Geomsu Wanbak)' law.

The Ministry of Justice held the second meeting of the 'Working Committee for the Maintenance of the National Victim Relief Prosecution-Police Responsible Investigation System' at 2 p.m. at the Government Complex Gwacheon. This was the second meeting following the first one on the 30th of last month.

The meeting lasted about two hours with the attendance of prosecution and police officials, including Yoon Won-ki, head of the Ministry of Justice's Legal System Improvement TF, Kim Jong-hyun, Criminal Policy Officer of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and Choi Jong-sang, head of the Police Agency's Responsible Investigation System Maintenance TF.

At the meeting, concrete discussions were held on measures to establish the Responsible Investigation System, which President Yoon Seok-yeol pledged to build to resolve blind spots arising from the adjustment of investigation rights between the prosecution and the police.

The attendees organized the necessary agenda items for maintaining the responsible investigation system and exchanged opinions from a practical standpoint among the respective agencies.

The Responsible Investigation System mainly allows the prosecution to directly conduct supplementary investigations after the police transfer a case and also enables the prosecution to request the transfer of cases that were not sent forward.

After the meeting, TF head Choi Jong-sang stated, "We discussed system maintenance measures to relieve national damages and enhance public benefits," adding, "Based on the discussion results, investigation guidelines will be revised in accordance with the purpose of the law."

Meanwhile, internal opposition within the police is growing as it has been revealed that the Ministry of Justice filed a constitutional dispute trial with the Constitutional Court, claiming that the amended Prosecution Service Act and Criminal Procedure Act, known as the 'Geomsu Wanbak Law,' are unconstitutional. The Ministry also argued that the 2020 investigation rights adjustment law (Prosecution Service Act and Criminal Procedure Act) infringes on the essential authority of prosecutors and may be unconstitutional.

Regarding this, TF head Choi responded to related questions by saying, "The target of the constitutional dispute trial filed by the Ministry of Justice is the 2022 amended law, and the bill currently under discussion is the 2020 amended current law," adding, "The constitutional trial and the consultative body discussions are not directly related."