"Prosecutorial Investigation Authority Restoration" Reversed to "Prosecutorial Investigation Authority Reduction"... Scope of Direct Prosecutorial Investigations Significantly Reduced

Ministry of Justice Announces Proposed Amendment to Regulation on Scope of Prosecutorial Investigations
Prosecutors Will Continue to Investigate Crimes Involving Virtual Assets, Technology Leaks, and Drug Offenses

It is expected that the Special Prosecutor's Office for the Insurrection will emphasize the legitimacy of the detention by involving deputy special prosecutors and prosecutors who participated in the detention warrant hearing for former President Yoon Sukyeol's detention review. The photo shows the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, where the Insurrection Special Prosecutor's Office was set up on July 18, 2025. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

The enforcement ordinance known as "Prosecutorial Investigation Authority Restoration," which had expanded the range of crimes subject to direct investigation by prosecutors, will be revised again to restrict the prosecutorial investigation authority.

On September 26, the Ministry of Justice announced a proposed amendment to the "Regulation on the Scope of Crimes Subject to Prosecutorial Investigation" (Presidential Decree), which will be open for public comment until November 5. The purpose is to revise the regulation on the scope of crimes that prosecutors can directly investigate, in line with the legislative intent of the Prosecutors’ Office Act that took effect in September 2022, thereby adjusting the scope of direct investigations by prosecutors.

The Ministry of Justice plans to revise the relevant enforcement ordinance to prevent abuse of direct investigation authority by prosecutors, in accordance with the legislative intent of the Prosecutors’ Office Act, which limits the scope of direct investigations to two major crime categories: corruption and economic crimes.

Additionally, the ministry announced that for crimes undermining the judicial order, the scope of prosecutorial investigations will be further restricted to aggravated perjury and retaliatory crimes related to certain corruption and economic offenses under the Criminal Act and the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. However, major economic crimes such as large-scale harm to the public, virtual assets, technology leaks, and drug offenses will remain subject to direct prosecutorial investigation.

Previously, on August 8, Minister of Justice Jeong Seongho instructed the revision of the enforcement ordinance on the scope of prosecutorial investigations to align with the intent of the revised Prosecutors’ Office Act, also known as the "Prosecutorial Investigation Authority Reduction Act," which took effect in September 2022.

The Moon Jaein administration had amended the Prosecutors’ Office Act to significantly reduce the types of crimes for which prosecutors could initiate direct investigations from six major categories (public officials, elections, defense procurement, major disasters, corruption, economic crimes) to two (corruption and economic crimes). Subsequently, the Yoon Seokyeol administration revised the Presidential Decree to restore the scope of crimes subject to prosecutorial investigation to its previous state before the amendment.