 |
The government on Sunday unveiled draft bills to establish the Major Crimes Investigation Office and the Prosecution Service, follow-up legislation to abolish the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and to institutionally separate investigative and prosecutorial functions.
Under the proposed framework, the Major Crimes Investigation Office would become the sole investigative body for nine categories of serious crimes, including corruption and economic crimes. The Prosecution Service would be stripped of all investigative authority and confined to filing and maintaining indictments. The government said effective cooperation among the new bodies—the Prosecution Service, the Major Crimes Investigation Office, the police, and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials—will be critical to the system’s successful implementation.
The design of the Major Crimes Investigation Office aims to prevent any gap in the nation’s capacity to respond to serious crimes. It would investigate nine categories: corruption, economic crimes, crimes by public officials, election crimes, defense procurement crimes, large-scale disaster crimes, drug offenses, crimes against national security such as insurrection or foreign exchange violations, and cybercrime.
Investigations would be conducted through a dual-track system of judicial investigators and professional investigators. The government explained that the scope focuses on sophisticated, organized white-collar crimes, while also considering social impact and effects on daily life. The law also anticipates cooperation with the National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters, particularly on election- and drug-related cases.
In addition, the office would have authority to investigate crimes committed by officials of the Prosecution Service or other investigative bodies, as well as cases referred under specific statutes.
To ensure expertise and flexibility, judicial investigators would be required to hold attorney qualifications to handle complex legal issues and ensure procedural legality. Professional investigators would consist of experienced investigators responsible for evidence collection and related tasks, operating on a grade system from levels 1 through 9. Rules would allow professional investigators to transfer into judicial investigator roles and be appointed to senior posts without restriction, creating an “open system” accessible to experts from outside the former prosecution structure, including police investigators.
When jurisdictional overlaps arise, the Major Crimes Investigation Office could request or transfer cases with other investigative bodies. For cases involving the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, however, the decision on transfer would rest with its chief.
The bills also grant the Minister of the Interior and Safety supervisory authority over the Major Crimes Investigation Office. The minister may exercise general oversight over its operations and, in specific cases, issue directives solely to the office chief—mirroring the Justice Minister’s former authority over prosecutors. Internal oversight mechanisms, including an inspector general position filled through open recruitment and a citizen-participation investigation review committee, are included to enhance transparency.
The proposed Prosecution Service law limits prosecutors’ duties strictly to the filing and maintenance of indictments, cutting off any avenue for initiating investigations. The government has not yet decided whether to retain a limited supplementary investigation authority, instead opting to strengthen external controls and performance evaluations to increase accountability in prosecutorial decisions.
Under the bill, references to criminal investigation and initiation of investigations are removed from prosecutors’ statutory duties and replaced with “filing and maintenance of public prosecution,” clearly redefining the office as a prosecution-only body. Case review committees would be established at each high-level prosecution office to deliberate on detention warrant requests and indictment decisions in high-profile cases, ensuring broader public input. The proportion of external members on prosecutors’ qualification review panels would also be increased, with careful standards needed to guarantee their impartiality.
Measures to block political involvement by prosecutors are included as well. New penalty provisions would punish prosecutors who join political parties or political organizations, or who support or obstruct their formation or membership, with up to five years in prison or up to five years of suspension of qualifications.
Yoon Chang-ryeol, head of the prosecution reform task force, said the government would push for swift parliamentary deliberation on the bills and prepare subordinate regulations, organizational structures, staffing, and systems to ensure a timely launch. He added that revisions to the Criminal Procedure Act and other related laws would also proceed without delay.
ⓒ "젊은 파워, 모바일 넘버원 아시아투데이"
이 기사의 카테고리는 언론사의 분류를 따릅니다.