The Democratic Party held a public briefing on the 3rd to quell controversy over the abolition of prosecutors' direct and supplementary investigation powers, presenting follow-up measures. But critics say most of the measures merely reaffirm previously known steps, falling short of preventing inadequate police investigations, protecting victims, or resolving concerns over so-called "ping-pong investigations."
"There must never be cases where citizens suffer harm from investigative gaps or delays during the transition process," said Han Byeong-do, the Democratic Party's acting leader and floor leader, at the public briefing on the Criminal Procedure Act amendment held at the National Assembly that day. "We have clarified the procedures and deadlines for demanding supplementary investigations, and we have also reorganized the rights to demand reinvestigation and corrective measures."
The Democratic Party emphasized that it had also strengthened victim protection mechanisms. For seven major categories of crimes targeting socially vulnerable groups, it plans to introduce a full-referral system requiring police to refer all handled cases to prosecutors, and to establish an internal task force (TF) to strengthen victims' rights, pursuing follow-up legislation and revisions to enforcement ordinances. Kim Han-kyu, deputy floor policy chief, will head the TF and review individual laws related to the full referral of the seven major crimes and the establishment of a dedicated department at the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency.
"This amendment did not eliminate supplementary investigation but changed it into a system that takes responsibility and manages cases to the end," said Kim Seung-won, the ruling party's secretary on the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee. "Direct and supplementary investigations have been abolished, but through the rights to demand supplementary investigation, reinvestigation, and corrective measures, we designed the system to protect victims' rights more comprehensively."
He added, "We clarified the processing deadlines so that police must decide within three months whether to refer complaint and accusation cases, and prosecutors must decide within three months whether to indict referred cases." He stressed, "The investigation process will be recorded and managed in the Korea Information System of Criminal Justice Services (KICS) to prevent so-called 'ping-pong investigations' where cases are pushed back and forth between agencies."
However, the legal community says the measures presented by the Democratic Party are insufficient to resolve the structural problems arising from the Criminal Procedure Act amendment.
"Since the Criminal Procedure Act is the fundamental law of the criminal justice system, it must operate under consistent principles," said Kwon Nae-geon, an attorney at law firm Trinity and former legal affairs review officer at the Ministry of Justice. "Creating a task force before even implementing the law and revising individual laws to patch up shortcomings is merely a stopgap prescription." He added, "Separately supplementing only some crimes is highly likely to create another loophole."
Questions were also raised over the effectiveness of the full referral of the seven major crimes. "It is hard to understand the very criteria for why only seven crimes were designated for full referral," said Cha Jin-a, a professor at Korea University Law School. "All crime victims are socially vulnerable, so distinguishing only some crimes does not fit with fairness."
She continued, "Even with full referral, if prosecutors cannot conduct supplementary investigations directly, merely re-examining records makes it difficult to actually solve problems." She noted, "The biggest problem is that there are no practical means to correct inadequate police investigations or omitted evidence when they occur."
Concerns over the effectiveness of demands for supplementary investigation also continued. The Democratic Party explained that if police fail to comply with a supplementary investigation demand, exclusion from duties or disciplinary requests would be possible. But experts pointed out that similar systems existed before yet did not function properly in the field.
"Although supplementary investigation demands are required to be processed within a certain period, there is a lack of practical sanctions to enforce this, making it highly likely to become a mere formality," said Kim Chang-hyun, a professor at Korea University Law School.
Meanwhile, the People Power Party held an on-site supreme council meeting in front of the former Blue House that day, repeatedly urging President Lee Jae-myung to exercise his right to request reconsideration. "The Criminal Procedure Act amendment is an evil law that destroys the Republic of Korea's criminal justice system," said party leader Jang Dong-hyeok. "Exercising the veto is not the president's choice but the command of the people and history." The People Power Party plans to pursue possible legal responses in parallel, including a constitutional complaint and an adjudication on jurisdictional disputes.
