Ministry of Justice Files Jurisdiction Dispute Petition with Constitutional Court over 'Prosecution Complete Control Act' (Comprehensive)

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, Kim Seon-hwa Head of the Public Trial Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and 5 Prosecutors as 'Joint Petitioners'
Public Hearing Requested by People Power Party on the 12th of Next Month... Possibility of Merging with Ministry of Justice and Prosecution

The second bill among the inspection reform bills, the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act, passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 3rd of last month. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] On the 27th, the Ministry of Justice filed a constitutional dispute adjudication with the Constitutional Court regarding the amended Prosecutors' Office Act and Criminal Procedure Act, commonly referred to as the ‘Geomsu Wanbak Law,’ and also applied for a provisional suspension of its effect. The constitutional dispute adjudication is a procedure in which the Constitutional Court determines the scope of authority between state agencies, between state agencies and local governments, or between local governments.

The Ministry of Justice formed a ‘Constitutional Issues Research Task Force’ to conduct an in-depth review of the constitutionality of the legislative process and the content of the law. As a result, it judged that the unconstitutionality of the legislative amendment procedure was serious and clear, and that the content of the law amendment was unconstitutional as it caused a severe infringement on the fundamental rights of the sovereign people.

The Ministry of Justice stated that it filed the constitutional dispute adjudication against the National Assembly to restore constitutional procedural democracy and the rule of law and to normalize the criminal justice system for the protection of the fundamental rights of the people.

Considering the time limit to file within 60 days and the imminent enforcement date of the Geomsu Wanbak Law on September 10, the Ministry explained that it was necessary to take prompt action after the final internal review of the unconstitutionality was completed, which is why the constitutional dispute adjudication was filed on this day.

The petitioners jointly filed the case: Han Dong-hoon, Minister of Justice, who oversees prosecutorial affairs under the Government Organization Act; Kim Seon-hwa, Chief of the Public Trial and Prosecution Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor), who is in charge of constitutional court-related affairs; and five frontline prosecutors representing the prosecutors as the direct subjects of the infringed authority.

The Ministry of Justice also applied for a provisional suspension of the effect of the Geomsu Wanbak Law. If the provisional suspension is granted, its effect will be suspended until the Constitutional Court's main judgment.

The amended law reduced the crimes for which prosecutors can directly initiate investigations from the existing six major crimes (public official crimes, election crimes, defense industry crimes, major disasters, corruption, economic crimes) to two major crimes (corruption and economic crimes). Additionally, it stipulated that supplementary investigations on cases investigated by the police are only possible within the same criminal facts.

The Ministry of Justice stated that during the legislative process, reasonable opportunities for debate were blocked, the principle of substantive majority was ignored, and the so-called ‘disguised party switching’ nullified the agenda adjustment procedure at the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee stage, making the defects serious and clear.

It also pointed out that at the plenary session stage, the ‘splitting of sessions’ method blocked unlimited debate procedures where minority opinions could be expressed, and that unrelated proposals to the standing committee’s submitted bill were presented as amended consent proposals at the plenary session, ignoring even the deliberation process.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice argued that the amended law severely restricts the prosecutorial investigation and prosecution functions that should be exercised for the people, damages the criminal justice system, and results in a violation of the state’s obligation to protect the fundamental rights of the people.

Specifically, the Ministry explained that in cases where direct investigation by prosecutors is prohibited, police investigations must be accepted unconditionally, which infringes on the people's right to a speedy trial and causes difficulties in exercising prosecution functions due to the reduction of investigative functions, thereby transferring harm to the people. The exclusion of the complainant’s right to object is effectively depriving prosecutors of their prosecution function and clearly violates the constitutional principle of equality, it criticized.

Minister Han said, "This constitutional dispute adjudication filing is an inevitable measure to correct the unconstitutional law passed through unconstitutional procedures that cause serious harm to the people," and added, "We will do our best in the upcoming constitutional dispute adjudication."

The Constitutional Court plans to hold a public hearing on the 12th of next month regarding a case where lawmakers from the People Power Party filed a constitutional dispute adjudication against the Speaker of the National Assembly, claiming their rights to review and vote on the bill were infringed. With the Ministry of Justice and prosecutors filing the constitutional dispute adjudication related to the Geomsu Wanbak Law today, there is a possibility that the Ministry of Justice and prosecutors will also attend the public hearing next month.

A Constitutional Court official said, "If it is judged that there is no significant difficulty in conducting the hearings jointly, the public hearings may be consolidated," and added, "If the reasons for the petition are clearly organized, a prompt decision on consolidation may be made."

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