Democratic Party's Prosecution Reform Special Committee: "Prosecution Only for Indictment... Bill to Be Submitted in February Next Year"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The Democratic Party of Korea announced that it will submit a bill to abolish the prosecution's investigative authority in February next year and process it within the first half of the year.

Yoon Ho-jung, chairman of the Democratic Party's Special Committee on Prosecution Reform, said at a press briefing on the 30th, "We will set a clear schedule and deadline to promptly conclude the discussions," adding, "At the very least, we will extract the tasks from the end of January to early February next year and submit the bill within February. The bill will be deliberated and approved by the National Assembly within the first half of next year."

Regarding the plan to separate investigative authority, he said, "The basic direction is to establish the prosecution as a specialized institution for indictment," and added, "When we prepare the amendment to the Prosecutors' Office Act, even if it is not implemented immediately, we will clearly specify when it will be enforced, so that the prosecution reform timetable can be finalized through discussions."

He continued, "We plan to discuss the organizational restructuring to separate prosecutors in charge of indictment and those in charge of investigation so that it can be implemented promptly." This means allowing a grace period to prepare after deciding to separate investigative authority.

Regarding some constitutional controversies, he said, "The name 'Prosecutors' Office' does not seem to be a constitutional matter," and added, "We also need to discuss whether the name of the Prosecutors' Office should be changed."

Park Joo-min, a member of the special committee, emphasized, "The constitution only mentions twice that warrants are requested by prosecutors," adding, "There is no mention of the roles, functions, or organization of prosecutors. Whether investigative authority belongs to the police, an independent investigative agency, or prosecutors is a matter of law. There is no unconstitutionality at all."

Yoon said, "The prosecution has become an excessive power institution. It has never been properly reformed," and added, "Because it holds both indictment and investigative authority, it has exercised unchecked power from anyone," emphasizing, "Excessive power must be reduced."

He also said, "While it is possible to raise objections to unfair and illegal orders, if the supervisory authority has been used not to raise objections but to protect the entire prosecution organization or create cartels, there should clearly be institutional improvements regarding these issues as well."

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