Kang Il-won, Former Constitutional Court Justice, "Prosecution Reform Bill Has Issues in Victim Protection"

Former Justice Kang Criticizes Legislation Process of Prosecution Reform Law... "Exclusion of Public Opinion"

Chief Justice Kang Il-won / Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Kang Il-won, former Constitutional Court justice who presided over the impeachment trial of former President Park Geun-hye, criticized the "Prosecutorial Authority Transfer Act" (Geomsu Wanbak law) saying, "There may be issues with victim protection."

Kang, chairman of the Prosecutors' Human Rights Committee, expressed concerns at the committee meeting held on the 28th at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, stating, "The current criminal law amendment may be advantageous for protecting suspects, but there could be problems regarding victim protection."

He added, "It is true that throughout our constitutional history, the prosecution has betrayed the public's expectations by siding with a small group of powers and abusing its authority," and said, "As a reflection on this, legislation has been enacted over the past few years to significantly limit the prosecution's investigative powers and to ease the principle of exclusive prosecution."

Former Justice Kang also criticized the Democratic Party of Korea's legislative process for the Geomsu Wanbak law. He said, "Before proper implementation of institutional improvements, legislation that completely changes the framework of criminal justice is proceeding at an incomprehensible pace and through procedures that are difficult to understand," and pointed out, "The current criminal law amendment, which is being pushed forward unilaterally by the ruling party without gathering public opinion, may be favorable for suspect protection but appears to have issues concerning victim protection."

On this day, the Prosecutors' Human Rights Committee reportedly held discussions on the Geomsu Wanbak law and measures to ensure the fairness of prosecutorial investigations.

The previous day, National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok submitted the Geomsu Wanbak law to the plenary session of the National Assembly, which aims to reduce the scope of direct prosecution by the prosecution to corruption and economic crimes and to separate prosecutors in charge of prosecution from those in charge of investigation.

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