The Legal and Prosecutorial Reform Committee Recommends "Distribute the Prosecutor General's Investigation Command Authority to High Prosecutors"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Ministry of Justice's Legal and Prosecutorial Reform Committee announced recommendations on the 27th aimed at decentralizing the powers of the Prosecutor General.

In these recommendations, the Reform Committee called for the abolition of the Prosecutor General's specific investigative command authority and its distribution to each High Prosecutor General. They also pointed out that the practice of appointing the Prosecutor General only from among active prosecutors should be improved.

The Reform Committee deliberated and approved the 21st recommendation containing these contents after holding a meeting at the Ministry of Justice Government Gwacheon Complex in the afternoon.

The Reform Committee made four major recommendations: ▲abolishing and decentralizing the Prosecutor General's specific investigative command authority ▲ensuring political neutrality in prosecutorial investigations ▲improving the procedure for the Minister of Justice to consult the Prosecutor General's opinion during prosecutor personnel appointments ▲diversifying the appointment of the Prosecutor General.

First, the Reform Committee suggested revising Article 8 of the Prosecutors' Office Act to abolish the Prosecutor General's specific investigative command authority and distribute it to each High Prosecutor General. Specifically, they proposed that the High Prosecutor General's investigative commands be made in writing and that the opinions of investigating prosecutors also be obtained in writing.

They also recommended that the Minister of Justice's authority to direct non-prosecution be prohibited in principle.

Furthermore, they added that when the Minister of Justice exercises investigative command authority over specific cases, the Prosecutors' Office Act should be amended so that the command is given in writing to the High Prosecutor General instead of the Prosecutor General. Currently, the law allows the Minister of Justice to direct individual investigative matters only to the Prosecutor General, but the recommendation is to change the command target to the High Prosecutor General.

Regarding prosecutor personnel matters by the Minister of Justice, the committee recommended that the opinions of the Prosecutor Personnel Committee be heard and that the Prosecutor General submit opinions in writing to the committee, with these procedures stipulated by law. They added that the chairperson of the Personnel Committee should be an external member, not a prosecutor.

The Reform Committee also recommended revising the practice of appointing the Prosecutor General only from among active prosecutors.

Since Article 27 of the Prosecutors' Office Act allows for the appointment of the Prosecutor General from diverse backgrounds such as judges, lawyers, and women, the committee emphasized that this should be practically implemented.

The Reform Committee stressed, "By decentralizing the investigative command authority concentrated in the Prosecutor General, a substantive system of checks and balances among internal prosecutorial powers can operate, and the harms caused by the Prosecutor General directly commanding investigations?such as selective, targeted, excessive, and unrelated investigations?can be improved."

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