Ministry of Justice to Develop Measures for Improving Investigation Practices... Decides to Amend 'Criminal Case Non-Disclosure Regulations' (Comprehensive)

"Problems Revealed in the Handling Process of Complaints Related to Former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook"

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye is announcing measures to improve prosecutorial investigation practices at the Gyeonggi Government Gwacheon Complex on the 14th. / Gwacheon - Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy reporters Choi Seok-jin, legal affairs specialist, and Kim Dae-hyun] The Ministry of Justice, after conducting a joint inspection with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office regarding the case of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-suk, confirmed inappropriate investigative practices and violations of procedural justice, and has prepared improvement measures.

The Ministry of Justice has established principles for case assignment and investigation team composition to improve inappropriate practices in direct prosecution investigations. It will also record and preserve prosecutors' pre-interview notes with witnesses after indictment. Additionally, the Ministry plans to amend the 'Regulations on Prohibition of Disclosure of Criminal Cases'?which had been criticized for restricting the public's right to know?by easing some disclosure restrictions. At the same time, it will strictly respond to the leaking of investigative information aimed at gaining momentum through public opinion manipulation.

On the morning of the 14th, the Ministry of Justice held a briefing on the 'Joint Inspection Results of the Former Prime Minister Han's Case by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office' in the large conference room on the 7th floor of Building 1 at the Government Complex Gwacheon. Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye personally delivered the announcement. Attending from the Ministry of Justice were Prosecutor General Gu Ja-hyun, Inspector Ryu Hyuk, Inspection Officer Im Eun-jeong, and spokesperson Park Hyun-joo. From the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Inspection Director Han Dong-su and Inspection Policy Researcher Min Young-hyun participated.

Minister Park began the briefing by stating, "Through today's announcement of the joint inspection results, I hope this will be an opportunity for our prosecution to break away from the past and move toward a completely new future prosecution," emphasizing that this joint inspection was not intended to punish or discipline anyone.

"In the Former Prime Minister Han's Case, inappropriate investigative practices and violations of procedural justice during the handling of related complaint cases were confirmed."

The Ministry of Justice cited the background for initiating this joint inspection as the confirmation of inappropriate investigative practices in the former Prime Minister Han's case and violations of procedural justice during the handling of complaint cases related to him.

Minister Park stated, "During the review of the former Prime Minister Han's case, inappropriate investigative practices were confirmed, including repeated summons of detainees, improper conveniences provided to cooperative witnesses, and omission of some investigative documents."

Regarding violations of procedural justice, in April 2020, a complaint alleging witness tampering was filed concerning the former Prime Minister Han's case. During its handling, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office reassigned the case from the Inspection Department to the Human Rights Department, causing confusion in the investigation and effectively replacing the lead prosecutor, which led to a no-indictment decision and sparked controversy over fairness.

In September last year, then-Inspection Policy Researcher Im Eun-jeong began an investigation. After being concurrently appointed as a prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in February this year and conducting the investigation, when attempting to indict detainee witnesses, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol designated the lead prosecutor as the head of the Inspection Division 3, which was criticized as problematic.

Furthermore, in March, when the Supreme Prosecutors' Office formed a meeting body with a few researchers and decided on the non-indictment of related parties, Minister Park instructed through investigative command that the matter be reviewed at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's department heads meeting. However, immediately after the meeting, detailed contents were reported by a specific media outlet, which was also seen as a violation of procedural justice.

However, during a Q&A session with reporters after the briefing, Minister Park was asked whether the investigation team at the time was found to have committed witness tampering against detainees in the former Prime Minister Han's case. He replied, "Regarding the substantive charges of witness tampering or inducement, although there are procedural shortcomings, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office has already concluded on this matter," adding, "I issued investigative commands, and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office department heads meeting reached a conclusion, so this joint inspection did not judge the substantive existence of witness tampering or inducement."

Minister Park explained that in the joint inspection initiated under his directive, the Ministry of Justice was responsible for discovering improvement measures for direct prosecution practices, while the Supreme Prosecutors' Office was tasked with uncovering the facts of inappropriate investigative practices revealed in the former Prime Minister Han's case.

Subsequently, through four joint meetings, the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office shared the direction of the joint inspection, reviewed not only the former Prime Minister Han's case but also past major direct prosecution cases, and collected court rulings, prosecution non-indictment decisions, academic papers, and overseas cases for reference, Minister Park said.

First Improvement Measure ? Establishing Principles for Case Assignment and Investigation Team Composition

The most important improvement measures prepared by the Ministry of Justice through this joint inspection are: ▲ establishing principles for case assignment and investigation team composition, ▲ recording and preserving prosecutors' pre-interview notes with witnesses after indictment, and ▲ amending the 'Regulations on Prohibition of Disclosure of Criminal Cases.'

First, Minister Park announced the establishment of principles for case assignment and investigation team composition.

Minister Park explained, "Mr. Choi, who appeared as a witness in the former Prime Minister Han's case, submitted a complaint stating that 'the Han Man-ho case was fabricated through a prosecutorial conspiracy, involving unimaginable and ugly prosecutorial misconduct and atrocities.' This was a complaint pointing out prosecutorial misconduct rather than a request to protect his own human rights, which is why the Ministry of Justice initially referred the case to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department."

However, the reassignment of the case to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Human Rights Department by former Prosecutor General Yoon was problematic. Also, when then-Inspection Policy Researcher Im Eun-jeong attempted to indict related parties for witness tampering, the designation of a new lead prosecutor was seen as the prosecution inviting criticism for 'protecting their own,' Minister Park evaluated.

To prevent recurrence of such cases, Minister Park pledged to strengthen management and supervision by strictly adhering to the division of duties among departments within the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, ensuring that prosecutorial misconduct is not treated as minor procedural violations or trivial mistakes.

Specifically, the Ministry plans to establish criteria for case assignment within the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and when assigning cases to frontline prosecutors' offices. For example, unless there are special circumstances, the principle of territorial jurisdiction will be followed, and investigation teams will be composed of prosecutors belonging to the prosecutors' office assigned the case.

The aim is to prevent the person in charge from arbitrarily composing investigation teams and causing distrust in investigation results. However, this may conflict with existing provisions in the Prosecutors' Office Act regarding delegation, transfer, and succession of prosecutorial duties held by the Prosecutor General, chief prosecutors, and branch chiefs, and enforcing this without legislative amendment could provoke controversy.

Article 7-2 (Delegation, Transfer, and Succession of Prosecutorial Duties) Paragraph 1 of the Prosecutors' Office Act states that "The Prosecutor General, chief prosecutors of each level, and branch chiefs may have prosecutors under their jurisdiction handle part of the duties within their authority." Paragraph 2 further states that "The Prosecutor General, chief prosecutors of each level, and branch chiefs may handle the duties of prosecutors under their jurisdiction themselves or have other prosecutors handle them."

Second Improvement Measure ? Recording and Preserving Prosecutors' Pre-Interview Notes with Witnesses After Indictment

Minister Park announced that prosecutors' pre-interview notes with witnesses will be mandatorily recorded and preserved.

He explained, "The investigation records of the former Prime Minister Han's case show that witnesses scheduled to testify in court were summoned by the prosecution more than 100 times in total and were pre-interviewed about their testimony."

He also confirmed that some witnesses were interrogated late into the night, and detainee witnesses were provided inappropriate conveniences such as unrestricted visits and phone calls with outsiders and arrangements for their incarcerated family members to be held at the better-equipped Seoul Detention Center.

Minister Park pointed out, "Such repeated summons and interrogations can be seen as inappropriate rehearsal of testimony, which increases the likelihood of contamination or distortion of witnesses' memories."

He emphasized, "If a prosecutor violates the duty of objectivity by listening to witness statements favorable to the defendant or unfavorable to the prosecution but fails to record them, the defendant's right to defense will inevitably be undermined."

Especially, with the amended Criminal Procedure Act coming into effect in January next year, which limits the evidentiary value of suspect interrogation records prepared by prosecutors, the need for prosecutors to conduct reasonable pre-interviews with witnesses to maintain prosecution has increased. Therefore, Minister Park stated that the Ministry will ensure transparency in the interview process by minimizing prosecutors' pre-contact with witnesses and mandating the recording and preservation of interview contents.

Third Improvement Measure ? Amending the 'Regulations on Prohibition of Disclosure of Criminal Cases' and Strict Response to Leaks of Investigative Information

Lastly, Minister Park announced plans to amend the 'Regulations on Prohibition of Disclosure of Criminal Cases,' established as a Ministry of Justice directive during the investigation of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk in 2019, which had been criticized for excessively broad prohibitions infringing on the public's right to know. The amendment will partially expand the scope of disclosure.

However, the official scope of public relations will be expanded based on the resolution of the Criminal Case Disclosure Review Committee, with disclosure requirements and scope set in detail according to each stage of the investigation.

According to the improvement plan, the pre-indictment stage will be divided into ▲ request for investigation, ▲ complaint or accusation, ▲ search and seizure, ▲ travel ban, ▲ summons and investigation, and ▲ arrest and detention, with different disclosure scopes set for each stage.

Minister Park stated that in exceptional cases where public relations are made about criminal cases before indictment, the suspect's right to rebuttal will be guaranteed. If the suspect, their legal representative, or lawyer requests a rebuttal, the rebuttal content will be disclosed through the same methods and procedures as the disclosure of criminal case information after review.

Additionally, the Ministry plans to introduce provisions allowing the Human Rights Protection Officer to conduct fact-finding investigations ex officio or upon reports of unauthorized disclosure of suspect information by investigative agencies. If the investigation finds suspected criminal offenses or misconduct by the investigation team, it can request investigation or inspection.

In particular, if investigative information is leaked without going through public relations officers such as professional public relations officers or if essential content of a case is intentionally leaked, the Human Rights Protection Officer of the relevant prosecutors' office will be required to conduct a fact-finding investigation and initiate inspection, with new legal grounds to be established.

During the briefing, Minister Park mentioned cases suspected of 'public opinion manipulation-type investigative information leaks' aimed at securing investigative momentum, including the 'Kim Hak-eui exit ban case' investigated by Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (2,937 cases), the 'Lime case' by Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office (1,854 cases), the 'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant case' by Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office (1,653 cases), and the 'Optimus case' by Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (886 cases). He also disclosed the number of news articles on portal sites during the three months following the time these issues became prominent.

However, after the briefing, when asked by reporters whether objective evidence was found during the inspection process that the investigation teams of these cases leaked investigative details to the media, Minister Park responded, "We have not specifically examined the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office and Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office cases," and "They were naturally not subjects of inspection."

Nevertheless, he added, "We have been monitoring media reports continuously, and many people worked to include this in the inspection results. Considering the articles, trends, and the roles of the public relations officers of the respective prosecutors' offices, although I have not definitively concluded, I strongly suspect that these materials relate to leaks of suspect information."

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