Ministry of Justice to Promote Legislation of the Prosecutor's Investigation Deliberation Committee Amid 'Dark Controversy' (Comprehensive)

"Will Prepare Legalization Plan After Reviewing Merits and Demerits"... Prosecution "Concerned It May Be Seen as Strengthening Prosecution Control"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Ministry of Justice has begun discussions to legislate the Prosecutors' Investigation Deliberation Committee. The Investigation Deliberation Committee was introduced to prevent the abuse of prosecutorial authority in cases attracting public attention, but issues such as the criteria for selecting cases for review and the limits of its advisory effect have been exposed. Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye, during his time as a lawmaker, criticized the committee as a "system for leniency" and requested improvements from then-Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae.

According to the legal community on the 14th, the Ministry of Justice recently responded to the proposal raised during last year's National Assembly audit to establish the legal basis for the Investigation Deliberation Committee through laws and regulations by stating, "We will review the merits and demerits of implementing the committee and then prepare a legislative plan."

Established in 2018, the Investigation Deliberation Committee is composed of more than 150 and fewer than 250 external members recruited from various sectors of society, including the legal community, academia, media, and civic groups. Among them, 15 members who can attend are randomly selected as current issue members to avoid concentration in a specific field. The selected members consider the public's right to know, the necessity of human rights protection, and the seriousness of the matter to review ▲whether to continue the investigation ▲whether to prosecute or dismiss the case ▲whether to request or re-request an arrest warrant ▲and the appropriateness and legality of investigations in prosecuted or dismissed cases. The committee convenes with at least 10 attending members excluding the chairperson and makes decisions by a majority vote of the attending members.

Recently, the committee has drawn public attention by issuing opinions on major cases. Last month, it recommended suspending the investigation into the illegal propofol administration allegations against Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, and last year, it recommended non-prosecution and suspension of investigation regarding the Channel A media collusion allegations involving Prosecutor General Han Dong-hoon.

However, the committee has been criticized for operating in a "black box" manner, as it is convened at the discretion of the Prosecutor General and does not disclose its discussions, leading to concerns that it is used to appease public opinion. During last year's National Assembly audit, ruling party lawmakers repeatedly called for reforms.

In particular, Minister Park criticized, "The Prosecutor General almost always convened the Investigation Deliberation Committee at his discretion," adding, "It suddenly appeared as an unprecedented prosecutorial system." He also referred to a public opinion survey conducted among law school and law faculty professors nationwide, stating, "This is a system for leniency; the system is not well organized and lacks transparency."

Democratic Party lawmaker Song Ki-heon also mentioned that the Ministry of Justice should take direct action to improve the system through ministerial ordinances. Lawmaker Song said, "Issues like the Investigation Deliberation Committee, which can directly affect citizens, cannot be handled by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regulations alone," and added, "There should be some legal basis in the Criminal Procedure Act at least. Accordingly, it is necessary to formalize it into a law."

However, the Ministry of Justice's recent position submitted to the National Assembly seems to focus more on enhancing transparency rather than granting the committee's decisions legal authority beyond advisory effect. A Ministry of Justice official explained, "To preserve the purpose of consultative bodies like the Investigation Deliberation Committee, fairness, transparency, and rationality in the decision-making process must be guaranteed," adding, "We intend to promote disclosure and public discussion through regulations higher than internal rules."

Nevertheless, there is also a view that the Ministry of Justice aims to strengthen control by transferring the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regulations to the Ministry of Justice. There are concerns that receiving prosecution decisions from an external body with legal authority could lead to long-term prosecutorial control.

A prosecution official stated, "If even a slight binding effect is given to the judgments of committee members who do not review the entire investigation record, it will cause controversy beyond investigation rights adjustment to the entire prosecutorial system," and added, "Concerns about 'black box' operations, such as non-disclosure of member lists, have already been raised regarding inappropriate contact with case parties and suppression of free opinion expression."

In fact, the prosecution explained last year in response to the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice's criticism that the committee was used by the Prosecutor General to appease public opinion, "Out of a total of 10 cases, 5 were convened at the Prosecutor General's discretion, which was during the tenure of the previous Prosecutor General. Of the remaining 5 cases, 3 were requested by case parties, and 2 were convened at the request of prosecutors."

Regarding criticism that the Prosecutor General operates the committee based on discretionary judgment, the prosecution rebutted, "The committee's autonomous and independent operation is demonstrated by the fact that in the case of Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, for whom an arrest warrant was even requested, the committee decided to recommend suspension of investigation and non-prosecution."

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