Voices for Revising the Enforcement Decree on Investigation Authority Grow in Academia... "Legislative Notice Should Be Canceled and Reviewed from the Beginning"

Korean Police Science Association, Police Education Council, and Korean Police Research Association
Submit Petition Urging Revisions to Ministry of Justice
"Directly Contradicts the Purpose of Prosecution Reform"
Growing Criticism of Legislative Notice Day by Day

Members of the Korea Public Officials Labor Union Federation (Gongnochoeng) and the National Public Officials Labor Union held a press conference on the 2nd in front of the Government Gwacheon Complex, urging the revision of the draft presidential decree on the Criminal Procedure Act and the Prosecutors' Office Act.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Amid growing opposition within the police to the presidential decree legislative notice regarding the adjustment of investigative authority, the academic community has also submitted a statement to relevant agencies expressing the view that the revised regulations do not properly reflect the intent of prosecutorial reform.

The Korean Police Science Association, the Police Education Council, and the Korean Police Research Association submitted a statement on the 4th to the Ministry of Justice and the National Participation Legislation Center urging revisions to the Enforcement Decree of the Criminal Procedure Act titled "Regulations on Mutual Cooperation between Prosecutors and Judicial Police Officers and General Investigation Principles" and the Enforcement Decree of the Prosecutors' Office Act titled "Regulations on the Scope of Crimes for Prosecutors' Investigation Initiation," both of which were announced for legislative notice by the Ministry of Justice.

In the statement, the academic community first pointed out that the Enforcement Decree of the Criminal Procedure Act, which sets investigation principles jointly applicable to both police and prosecutors, is "clearly unfair" as it is designated solely under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice. They also criticized the addition of numerous provisions granting prosecutors control over police investigations?powers not present even in higher laws?arguing that this exceeds the limits of delegated legislation.

Furthermore, they criticized provisions that allow prosecutors to investigate beyond the six major crimes stipulated in the Prosecutors' Office Act, extending to drug and cybercrimes, and parts that permit prosecutors to directly investigate all cases simply by obtaining a search and seizure warrant, stating that these expansions of prosecutorial direct investigation powers run counter to the intent of prosecutorial reform.

Lee Sang-hoon, President of the Korean Police Science Association and professor at Daejeon University, said, "The authority for interpretative rulings on enforcement decrees lies with the supervising ministry," adding, "If the Ministry of Justice solely oversees this, investigative practices will inevitably be operated according to the Ministry of Justice's preferences." Choi Eung-ryeol, President of the Police Education Council and professor at Dongguk University, also pointed out, "The enforcement decree introduces prosecutorial powers not present in the law, exceeding the limits of delegated legislation," and described it as "a regulation that nullifies the police's primary authority to conclude investigations and their investigative autonomy."

The academic community demanded that the government cancel the legislative notice and revise the supervising ministries to be jointly overseen by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (National Police Agency), restarting the procedure from scratch. They also called for the deletion of provisions exceeding the scope of delegation in higher laws, the clauses allowing prosecutors to initiate investigations into drug and cybercrimes, and the provisions recognizing prosecutorial investigations upon issuance of search and seizure warrants.

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