Choo Mi-ae: "Investigation and Prosecution Must Be Separated... Concerns Over Decline in Investigation Capability Are Groundless" (Summary)

Former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Former Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae stated on the 24th, "The National Assembly must promptly pass a law separating investigation and prosecution." Former Minister Chu said, "No country allows the prosecution to hold both investigative and prosecutorial powers, let alone monopolize the authority to request warrants," emphasizing this point.

Former Minister Chu said, "It has already been 67 years since Eom Sang-seop, a member of the Code Compilation Committee, emphasized at the time of the enactment of the Criminal Procedure Act in 1954 that the direction should be to separate investigative and prosecutorial powers 'in the near future'." She added, "If we now say we need to 'adjust the speed,' it means the 67 years of wasted time were insufficient," and "I cannot understand what more needs to be discussed when it is still said that sufficient discussion is necessary."

Former Minister Chu mentioned Japan and Germany, which belong to the continental law system like Korea, saying, "There is no country like ours that assigns investigators to every prosecutor's office." She said, "Even Japan, which transplanted continental law to us, pursues justice separately with criminal investigations handled by investigators and prosecutors acting as legal experts in prosecution."

Former Minister Chu stated, "By establishing the 'Serious Crime Investigation Agency,' removing investigators assigned to prosecutors' offices will make the separation of investigation and prosecution immediately feasible." She continued, "From 2022, the reports prepared by prosecutors have become no different from police reports, so prosecutors no longer need to conduct investigations directly," and argued, "Therefore, passing a law to separate and establish the Investigation Agency is now required."

Former Minister Chu emphasized, "The reason it is hard to change easily is simply because people have become accustomed over a long time," and added, "That is why reform is necessary. We must not hesitate to fulfill the reform demanded by the candlelight sovereigns."

In an additional post in the afternoon, Former Minister Chu claimed, "Concerns that establishing the Investigation Agency and separating investigation and prosecution will weaken crime investigation capabilities and anti-corruption investigative capacity are unfounded."

As evidence, she explained, "The investigative capabilities of advanced judicial countries that operate criminal justice systems well by separating investigation and prosecution cannot be said to be inferior to ours, and measures to prevent investigative gaps (mutual cooperation between prosecutors and judicial police officers and regulations on general investigative principles) have been established."

She then emphasized, "Rather, now is the time to enact laws separating investigation and prosecution and establishing the Investigation Agency, and to prepare practical measures to properly settle the cooperation relationship between prosecutors and police."

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