People Power Party floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik said he would file a constitutional complaint, citing the unconstitutionality of a revised Criminal Procedure Act whose core provision is the repeal of supplementary investigation rights.
Jeong made the remarks on the 2nd through his Facebook account, saying, "The people's right to judicial relief and their right to equality must not be infringed by political frenzy and trickery."
"When the bill to repeal supplementary investigation rights passed the National Assembly's plenary session on the 31st, the presidential office immediately expressed what amounts to consent, saying it 'respects the National Assembly's judgment,'" he said. "The presidential office and the Democratic Party may be rejoicing in anticipation of concluding a political backroom deal exchanging the repeal of supplementary investigation rights for the dismissal of prosecution, but this revised Criminal Procedure Act is rife with unconstitutionality."
Jeong cited as grounds for his unconstitutionality argument that Articles 12 and 16 of the Constitution specify prosecutors as the entity that applies for warrants of arrest, detention, seizure, and search. "The Constitution grants prosecutors the investigative power to ascertain the substantive truth of a case," he said. "Yet this revision abolishes even prosecutors' direct investigation and direct warrant request rights, so the potential for unconstitutionality is very high."
He also raised the possibility of an infringement of the right to equality regarding a provision designating seven major crimes targeting the socially vulnerable as subject to mandatory referral of all cases. "It is also problematic that mandatory case referral was introduced only for the seven major crimes targeting the socially vulnerable," he said. "Even though every citizen has the right to be protected from all crimes, treating only certain crimes separately has the potential to infringe on the right to equality."
He went on to sharply criticize, saying, "There is also great room for arbitrary judgment as to whether a case belongs to the seven major crimes. If the protection of the law is discriminatory according to the mechanical classification of criminal charges at the investigation stage, this too infringes on the right to equality."
The People Power Party plans to hold an on-site Supreme Council meeting in front of the presidential office on the 3rd to urge President Lee Jae-myung to exercise his right to request reconsideration of the revised Criminal Procedure Act. The party intends to pressure the government through a public opinion campaign while also pursuing legal responses such as a constitutional complaint if the president promulgates the revision without exercising the right to request reconsideration.
