[Breaking News] Constitutional Court: "Prosecutor's Investigation and Prosecution Rights Are Not Constitutional Powers"... Minister of Justice Lacks Standing

On the 23rd, the day of the Constitutional Court's ruling on the authority dispute trial regarding the complete removal of the prosecution's investigative authority (Geomsu Wanbak) bill, Yoon Nam-seok, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, is seated with the constitutional justices at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@]

On the 23rd, the Constitutional Court dismissed the case requesting a dispute over authority filed by Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon and prosecutors regarding the 'Complete Deprivation of Prosecution Investigation Rights (Geomsu Wanbak)' law, which was led by the Democratic Party of Korea last year, with a 5 (dismissal) to 4 (acceptance) vote.

On the afternoon of the same day, the Constitutional Court held a sentencing hearing at the Grand Bench of the Constitutional Court in Jaedong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, regarding the dispute over authority case filed by Minister Han and prosecutors related to the amended Prosecutors' Office Act and the amended Criminal Procedure Act, and made this decision.

The Constitutional Court judged that Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, among the petitioners, has no restricted authority under the Geomsu Wanbak law and therefore lacks the standing to file a dispute over authority.

Additionally, the Constitutional Court dismissed the petitions of the remaining six prosecutors on the grounds that there was no possibility of infringement of authority.

The prosecutors claimed that their investigation and prosecution rights were infringed by the legislative amendment in this case; however, the court stated that these rights are statutory rather than constitutional, and thus cannot be infringed by the legislative acts of the National Assembly, which has the authority to enact or amend laws.

However, four constitutional justices issued dissenting opinions recognizing the infringement of authority.

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, Kim Seok-woo, Director of the Legal Affairs Office of the Ministry of Justice, Kim Seon-hwa, Head of the Trial and Litigation Department of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and six other prosecutors filed a dispute over authority with the Constitutional Court against the National Assembly on June 27 last year, arguing that the amended Prosecutors' Office Act infringed on the essential parts of prosecutors' investigation and prosecution rights, violated the constitutional principles of majority rule and due process during the National Assembly's resolution process, and undermined the purpose of the multi-party system.

Minister Han and others sought confirmation that ▲ the National Assembly's act of passing amendments to the alternative bill of the partial amendment to the Prosecutors' Office Act, which was sent to the government after the plenary session resolution on April 30, 2022, and ▲ the legislative amendment act of passing amendments to the alternative bill of the partial amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, which was sent to the government after the plenary session resolution on May 3, 2022, infringed on the investigation and prosecution rights granted by the Constitution and laws to prosecutors and the investigation and prosecution rights overseen by the Minister of Justice, and that these acts are invalid.