Senior Prosecutors at Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office Oppose 'Prosecution Complete Abolition' Mediation Proposal

"Approach as an Issue of South Korea's Criminal Justice System"
"Opposition to Legislative Efforts to Unfairly Remove Investigation Rights"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] Senior prosecutors at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office have expressed opposition to the 'complete prosecution investigation reform' mediation proposal put forth by National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok.

On the 25th, Chief Prosecutor Shim Jae-cheol and other senior prosecutors issued a statement saying, "We oppose the 'National Assembly Speaker's mediation proposal on the complete prosecution investigation reform.'

In their statement, they pointed out that the mediation proposal should be approached as an issue concerning the criminal justice system of the Republic of Korea, rather than the maintenance and continuation of the prosecution organization.

First, the senior prosecutors stated that allowing supplementary investigations only within the scope where 'unity' and 'identity' are recognized is problematic. They said, "The purpose of an investigation is to determine whether to prosecute, and investigation and prosecution cannot be separated," adding, "If the prosecutor's investigation is problematic, then the police investigation is also problematic for the same reason, but no control measures have been established for this."

They emphasized that in cases of highly sophisticated property crimes such as fraud, embezzlement, and breach of trust, various criminal methods are employed, so conducting supplementary investigations solely based on unity and identity would fail to uncover the full extent of the crime.

They also expressed difficulty in accepting the complete abolition of direct prosecution investigations. The senior prosecutors stated, "No reasons were provided as to why the four crimes?corruption, economic crimes, public officials, and elections?which fall under the prosecution's direct investigation jurisdiction, were excluded from the mediation proposal," and asserted that direct prosecution investigations can effectively respond to crimes.

Furthermore, referring to the adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and police, they said, "Efficient case handling to provide relief that the public can feel has not been achieved, and naturally, no measures to check the excessive expansion of police power, which should have been implemented, have been taken at all."

Finally, the senior prosecutors stated, "We oppose the legislation to unjustly deprive investigative authority and sincerely hope that future related laws will be revised in a direction that carefully examines the problems of the changed criminal justice system and enhances the human rights and interests of the people."

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