Again Weakening the Prosecution... This Time "Let's Overhaul the Personnel Committee"

Bill Proposes Restructuring Personnel Committee Ahead of Mid-Level Executive Personnel Changes

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] A bill has emerged aiming to completely reform the operation method of the 'Prosecutor Personnel Committee,' which discusses prosecutors' promotions and transfers. The purpose is to better reflect citizens' voices in prosecutor personnel decisions, but some voices suspect it might be part of an effort to 'weaken the prosecution's power.'

According to the legal community on the 25th, ahead of the mid-level prosecutor personnel appointments, the 'Prosecutor Personnel Committee' was held on the 24th, and a 'Prosecutor's Office Act Amendment' proposing structural changes to the committee was introduced in the National Assembly.

The current Prosecutor's Office Act stipulates that before prosecutor personnel decisions, the committee discusses criteria for promotions and transfers. The committee consists of 11 members: 3 prosecutors, 2 judges, 2 lawyers, 2 law professors, and 2 non-legal professionals.

However, the amendment proposes to significantly increase the committee members to 21, with half of them selected randomly from people qualified as jurors under the 'Act on Citizens' Participation in Criminal Trials.' Choi Gisang, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who proposed the amendment, explained, "The purpose is to control prosecutorial power and secure the democratic legitimacy of prosecutors by involving citizens in the appointment and promotion of prosecutors."

The amendment also includes revising the 'qualification review,' conducted every seven years to filter out 'unqualified personnel' among all prosecutors except the Prosecutor General. This is because the review process has not reflected citizens' opinions, and in the past five years, no prosecutor has been recommended for retirement or ordered to retire, effectively serving as a tool for protecting insiders. The proposal is to increase the 'Prosecutor Qualification Review Committee' members to 17, with 8 randomly selected from juror-qualified citizens.

Within the legal community, this amendment is sometimes interpreted as a 'power reduction' under the guise of prosecutorial reform. Increasing the proportion of citizens sensitive to public opinion and political voices to half raises concerns about the committee's lack of expertise and impartiality. If decisions by the committee responding to public opinion and personnel changes reflecting such intentions are repeated, it is expected to influence the direction of prosecutors' investigations to some extent.

This amendment was co-proposed by Kim Yongmin, a Democratic Party member who also introduced a bill to lower the Prosecutor General's rank from ministerial to vice-ministerial level. Kim has also suggested deleting the provision requiring the Prosecutor General's opinion, stating, "The appointment and assignment of prosecutors should be made by the President upon the recommendation of the Minister of Justice."

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