Jokuk Innovation Party Promotes 'Four Prosecution Reform Laws'... "Dismantling the Powerful Prosecution Authority"

Eradicating Omnipotent Power: Season 2 of Prosecutorial Reform... Abolishing the Prosecutor's Office

Jo Guk, leader of the Jo Guk Innovation Party, announced on the 26th that he will promote the 'Prosecutor Reform Four Acts,' which include abolishing the Prosecutor's Office and establishing the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Office.

At a press conference held at the National Assembly Communication Office in the afternoon, Representative Jo said, "Through the Prosecutor Reform Four Acts aimed at depoliticizing and depowering the prosecution, we will dismantle the overwhelming prosecutorial power and achieve irreversible prosecutor reform through thorough legislation."

The Prosecutor Reform Four Acts promoted by the party are divided into three enactment bills (Public Prosecution Office Act, Serious Crime Investigation Agency Act, Investigation Procedure Act) and one amendment bill (Criminal Procedure Act).

The core of the Public Prosecution Office Act is the separation of investigation and prosecution. Investigation authority will be transferred to the newly established Serious Crime Investigation Agency, and the existing prosecution will be converted into the Public Prosecution Office, which is solely responsible for prosecution and maintenance of public prosecution. The titles such as chief prosecutor will no longer be used in the future.

Park Eun-jung, a member of the Special Committee for the Early End of Prosecutorial Dictatorship in the party, said, "If the Public Prosecution Office Act passes the National Assembly, the current prosecutorial system, established and implemented since 1949, will disappear into history," adding, "The criminal justice system of the Republic of Korea will be redesigned centered on the Public Prosecution Office's control over the legality of investigations and the initiation and maintenance of prosecutions."

Innovation Party for Justice 'Four Prosecution Reform Bills' Proposal Push
(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Juseong = On the afternoon of the 26th, Cho Kuk, leader of the Innovation Party for Justice, and Hwang Unha, floor leader, announced plans to propose the 'Four Prosecution Reform Bills' at the National Assembly Communication Office in Yeouido, Seoul. The bills include abolishing the Prosecutor's Office and establishing the Serious Crime Investigation Agency and the Public Prosecution Agency. 2024.6.26
utzza@yna.co.kr
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The Serious Crime Investigation Agency Act grants investigative authority transferred from the prosecution. The Serious Crime Investigation Agency, an investigative organization without prosecutors, will be established under the Ministry of Justice. It explicitly states direct investigation scopes such as corruption, economic crimes, public official crimes, election crimes, defense business crimes, major disasters, and drug crime investigations. To prevent abuse of investigative authority, requests for warrants for compulsory investigations must go through the Public Prosecution Office, establishing a check and balance system.

Hwang Un-ha, floor leader responsible for proposing the Serious Crime Investigation Agency Act, explained, "To further perfect the control over abuse of investigative authority, the Serious Crime Investigation Agency can be divided into several investigative departments, with the investigation headquarters chief directing investigations, thereby restraining and blocking abuse of investigative authority by the head of the Serious Crime Investigation Agency."

The Investigation Procedure Act specifies the prohibition of public disclosure of criminal cases and bans investigations on separate or unrelated cases. This means legislatively blocking the evils of horse-race-style investigations. It also aims to block bad practices such as targeted investigations and ritualistic investigations, establish the principle of non-detention investigations, strengthen the principle of evidence-based investigations, and tighten the requirements for issuing search and seizure warrants. Representative Cha Gyu-geun, who proposed this bill, emphasized, "Judicial police, not prosecutors, should be the main agents of investigations."

Finally, the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act includes △ revising residual provisions of prosecutorial investigative authority throughout the Criminal Procedure Act △ effectively revising the re-investigation request system and quasi-appeal system.