[2022 National Audit] Legislation and Judiciary Committee Clash Over 'Geomsuwonbok': "Unconstitutional" vs "Legal"

Noh: "Inspection officer uniforms established through unconstitutional and unconstitutionally interpreted reviews"
Lee Wankyu, Chief of the Legislation Office: "Types of corruption and economic crimes defined in the enforcement decree are lawful"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] On the 13th, the ruling and opposition parties clashed sharply over the revision of the enforcement decree for 'Geomsuwonbok' (restoration of the prosecution's investigative authority) during the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Ministry of Government Legislation. The Democratic Party pointed out that although the legislative intent of the 'Geomsu Wanbak' (complete removal of the prosecution's investigative authority) bill originally passed by the National Assembly was to reduce the prosecution's investigative powers, the subsequently revised enforcement decree deviated from this intent and was 'unconstitutional.' Conversely, Lee Wan-gyu, head of the Ministry of Government Legislation, and the People Power Party countered that it was lawful.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On that day, Jeon Ju-hye of the People Power Party asked Director Lee, "Expanding corruption and economic crimes beyond the previous presidential decree is not beyond administrative discretion," adding, "Even if public official crimes or election crimes are classified as corruption crimes, it is lawful within the scope of administrative legislative authority regarding classification and crime selection. So, isn't the conclusion that defining corruption and economic crime types in the enforcement decree is lawful?"

In response, Director Lee said, "Yes. From the beginning, when the law limiting prosecutors' investigative authority to six crimes was created through the 2020 fast-track process, there was a legislative error in this law."

He further explained regarding the Democratic Party lawmakers' opposition to Geomsuwonbok, "It seems that (Democratic Party) lawmakers do not properly consider the issue of 'general delegation.'" He said, "When setting prosecutors' investigative authority in 2020, a provision was also created to delegate authority via presidential decree, but (if criticizing Geomsuwonbok) even at the time of delegation, subsidiary criteria should have been set so that anyone could clearly understand the scope."

However, Park Beom-gye of the Democratic Party said, "The new government can pursue different policies, but it must be within the Constitution and laws, and must not exceed them," adding, "After the so-called 'Geomsu Wanbak Law' was implemented, the Ministry of Justice, under Minister Han Dong-hoon and Director Lee Wan-gyu, included corruption crimes, abuse of power crimes, and election crimes within the scope of investigation initiation through unconstitutional and unconstitutional interpretations and reviews."

Director Lee rebutted, "I cannot agree that the Ministry of Government Legislation's review is unconstitutional," adding, "In my view, it is very appropriate." He said, "When defining the scope of corruption and economic crimes, what falls within it inevitably must be specified by presidential decree," and "Presidential decrees can change at any time." He continued, "Looking at the enforcement decree, there is an effort by the Ministry of Justice to define standards on its own," and "At least if it is considered that the scope of prosecution's investigative authority falls under the corruption crime category, that is lawful."

On the other hand, the opposition continued to point out that the revision of the enforcement decree deviated from the legislative intent.

Park Joo-min of the Democratic Party said, "The legislative intent and purpose of (Geomsu Wanbak) was to reduce the scope in which the prosecution can directly investigate. Then the enforcement decree should be made in a way that respects that," adding, "Minister Han Dong-hoon keeps mentioning the necessity of the policy, but even if the necessity is recognized, can a new legislative purpose be created through an enforcement decree?"

During this exchange, Director Lee responded, "When the Democratic Party pushed for legislation, the thoughts of Democratic Party lawmakers are not the legislator's intent," and Park sharply retorted, "If the Democratic Party lawmakers reached a quorum and passed it in the National Assembly, does that mean it is not the legislator's intent? Does it mean that if only one party passes it, it is not the legislator's intent?"

Director Lee said, "The (Geomsu Wanbak) law delegates authority to set details via presidential decree, so if you say that changing that delegation slightly violates the law, that should not be said."

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