End of Prosecutor-Police Council... Ministry of Justice's Opinion on '3-Month Deadline for Police Supplementary Investigation'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The police-prosecutor consultative body discussing issues related to the revision of the 'Responsible Investigation System,' a key policy of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, reportedly recommended to the Ministry of Justice to establish a regulation setting a three-month deadline for police supplementary investigations.

According to the legal community on the 26th, the expert and policy committee within the police-prosecutor consultative body conveyed to the Ministry of Justice, after their final meeting that day, the opinion to prepare a guideline regulation setting the deadline for police supplementary and reinvestigations at three months.

This measure aims to address the problem of cases where the prosecution’s requests for supplementary investigations to the police are handled too late, following the abolition of the prosecution’s investigative supervision rights after the adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and police.

The committee also reportedly suggested creating an open regulation allowing both the prosecution and police to conduct supplementary investigations on all cases, regarding the 'subject of supplementary investigation,' which had been a point of contention between the two sides.

Instead of designating one side as the subject of supplementary investigation and setting some exceptions, the committee proposed revising the regulation to grant authority to both sides, such as stating, "The prosecutor may directly conduct supplementary investigations or request supplementary investigations from judicial police officers."

The Ministry of Justice plans to begin revising the current "Regulations on Mutual Cooperation between Prosecutors and Judicial Police Officers and General Investigation Guidelines" (Presidential Decree) based on the committee’s suggestions. After going through inter-agency consultations and gathering opinions, a concrete plan will be presented following the enforcement of the amended Criminal Procedure Act and Prosecutors' Office Act on the 10th of next month.

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