Ministry of Justice to Push Prosecution Organization Reform... 14 Direct Investigation Units Transferred to Criminal Divisions

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The Ministry of Justice has decided to convert 14 prosecution organizations, mainly responsible for direct investigations such as the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division and the Public Investigation Division, into Criminal Divisions.

On the 20th, the Ministry of Justice announced that it is promoting this prosecution organizational reform to reduce direct investigations by the prosecution and strengthen the expertise in investigating and handling civil affairs cases.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office will eliminate four positions at the deputy prosecutor level: the Investigation Information Policy Officer, Senior Researcher of the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crimes Division, Public Investigation Policy Officer, and Forensic Investigation Planning Officer.

However, the Investigation Information Policy Officer will be downsized to the Investigation Information Officer, and the existing Human Rights Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office will be reorganized into the Human Rights Policy Officer under the Deputy Prosecutor. Additionally, a Criminal Policy Officer will be newly established under the Deputy Prosecutor.

Furthermore, the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crimes Division, which was the largest among the five divisions at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, will be reduced from four divisions?Investigation Command, Investigation Support, Organized Crime, and Narcotics?to three divisions through integration. The Public Investigation Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office will also be reduced from four divisions to three.

The Criminal Division and the Trial and Prosecution Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office will be expanded to four and three divisions respectively, following the previous organizational reform that expanded the criminal and trial divisions at district prosecution offices.

At the nationwide prosecution offices, eight Public Investigation Divisions across seven offices will be reduced to four divisions, and the remaining four divisions across three offices will be converted into Criminal Divisions.

Additionally, all six Violent Crime Divisions across six nationwide prosecution offices and two Foreign Affairs Divisions across two offices will be converted into Criminal Divisions.

Three Dedicated Crime Investigation Divisions across three prosecution offices nationwide will be reduced and converted into two Criminal Divisions across two offices, and the Dedicated Crime Investigation Divisions will now be able to handle general criminal cases as well.

In total, 14 direct investigation and dedicated investigation divisions across 10 nationwide prosecution offices will be converted into Criminal Divisions.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the largest prosecution office nationwide, will reorganize its system by redistributing the Criminal and Trial Divisions under the first, second, and third deputy prosecutors.

The existing direct investigation divisions under the third deputy prosecutor?Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 and 2, Economic Crime Criminal Division, Fair Trade Investigation Division, Violent Crime Criminal Division, and Crime Proceeds Recovery Division?will be moved under the fourth deputy prosecutor.

The Ministry of Justice stated, "We will ensure that the Criminal Divisions converted from direct investigation divisions do not become 'nominal Criminal Divisions' but function substantively as Criminal Divisions, so that the public can tangibly feel the changes, and the prosecution can be reborn as a people-centered and human rights-centered institution."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.