"Prosecutors Participating in Investigations Excluded from Prosecution"... Prosecution Service Establishes Operational Guidelines for 'Geomsu Wanbak Act'

Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-gu, Seoul / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The Supreme Prosecutors' Office has issued detailed operational guidelines to local prosecutors' offices for the separation of investigation and prosecution in preparation for the enforcement of the "Prosecutorial Investigation and Prosecution Separation Act" (amended Prosecutors' Office Act).

On the 8th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced that it has established the "Guidelines on the Prosecution of Crimes Investigated by Prosecutors (Supreme Prosecutors' Office Regulations)" and will implement them starting from the 10th. A representative from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office explained, "Investigation is a series of acts conducted to determine whether to file a prosecution, so investigation and prosecution have a means-to-end relationship and are difficult to separate in criminal justice procedures. This guideline defines the scope of prosecutors who are restricted from filing prosecutions to enforce the amended law."

The amended Prosecutors' Office Act, passed by the National Assembly plenary session in April under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, stipulates that "a prosecutor may not file a prosecution for a crime that they have initiated an investigation into." If the police complete an investigation and transfer the case, the prosecutor who supplements the investigation can proceed with prosecution, but prosecutors who directly participated in the investigation of cases recognized by the prosecution cannot prosecute.

In response, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office clarified the scope of "investigating prosecutors" who are prohibited from prosecution to uphold the purpose of the amended Prosecutors' Office Act. ▲If a prosecutor participates in any of the five types of investigative acts ? summoning the suspect for questioning, preparing the suspect's interrogation record, emergency arrest, requesting arrest or detention warrants, or requesting search, seizure, and verification warrants ? it is considered as "direct initiation of investigation."

In effect, prosecutors who have stepped into the investigation process even once are practically barred from prosecution, but heads of each level of prosecutors' offices will designate prosecutors responsible for prosecution considering operational circumstances and personnel conditions. Initially, during the legislative process of the "Prosecutorial Investigation and Prosecution Separation Act," there was discussion about prohibiting prosecutors who participated in investigations from participating not only in prosecution but also in trials. However, after controversy, it was decided that investigating prosecutors can maintain prosecution in court.

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