Police Commission and Academia Also Submit Opinions... Growing Demands to Amend the 'Investigation Authority Adjustment Enforcement Decree' (Comprehensive)

Police and Prosecutor Investigation Guidelines but Solely Overseen by the Ministry of Justice
Scope of Prosecutor's Investigation Initiation Rather Expanded
Concerns Over Undermining Police's Primary Investigation Termination Authority
"Contrary to the Purpose of Prosecution Reform"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Amid growing police opposition to the presidential decree legislative notice regarding the adjustment of investigative authority, the controversy is escalating as the Police Commission and academia have also submitted statements to relevant agencies expressing that the amended regulations do not properly reflect the intent of prosecutorial reform.

On the 4th, the Police Commission sent statements outlining the issues and requesting revisions to the legislative notices of 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" to the Blue House, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Government Legislation, National Assembly, and other related agencies.

It is highly unusual for the Police Commission to release an external position. The Police Commission is a consensus-based administrative body under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety that deliberates and resolves major policies related to the police, playing a role in democratic control over police administration. It comprises seven members, including the chairperson, representing various sectors such as academia, legal circles, media, and civic groups.

In the statement, the Police Commission requested that the Enforcement Decree of the Criminal Procedure Act, currently designated as solely under the Ministry of Justice's jurisdiction, be revised to be jointly managed by the National Police Agency and the Ministry of Justice. The Commission pointed out that "if solely managed by the Ministry of Justice, there is a risk of infringing on the Police Commission's authority to deliberate and resolve." They also requested revisions regarding the partial re-delegation of the scope of prosecutors' investigation initiation to the Ministry of Justice's decree and the provision allowing prosecutors to continue investigating crimes outside the scope of investigation initiation when issuing search, seizure, and verification warrants, stating these exceed the intent of the legal delegation.

The Korean Police Science Association, Police Education Council, and Korean Police Research Association also submitted statements urging revisions to the enforcement decrees to the National Participation Legislation Center and the Ministry of Justice on the same day.

In their statement, academia first criticized the Enforcement Decree of the Criminal Procedure Act, which applies jointly to police and prosecutors as investigation principles, being designated solely under the Ministry of Justice's jurisdiction as "clearly unjust." They also pointed out that the decree newly establishes numerous prosecutorial control powers over police investigations, which do not exist even in higher laws, thus exceeding 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, including drug and cyber crimes, and parts that permit prosecutors to directly investigate all cases simply by obtaining search and seizure warrants, arguing these expand the scope of prosecutors' direct investigations and directly contradict the intent of prosecutorial reform.

Lee Sang-hoon, President of the Korean Police Science Association (Professor at Daejeon University), stated, "The authority for authoritative interpretation of enforcement decrees lies with the supervising ministry," adding, "If solely managed by the Ministry of Justice, investigative practices will inevitably be operated according to the Ministry of Justice's preferences." Choi Eung-ryeol, Chair of the Police Education Council (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."

Academia demands that the government cancel the legislative notice, revise the supervising ministries to be jointly managed by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (National Police Agency), and restart the procedure from the beginning. They also call for the deletion of provisions exceeding the scope of delegation in higher laws, the clauses allowing prosecutors to initiate investigations into drug and cyber crimes, and the provisions recognizing prosecutors' investigations upon issuance of search and seizure warrants.

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