Amid the passage of amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act abolishing prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers, Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho said Monday that if the changes cause problems, "we should fix them quickly."
Jeong made the remarks after attending a commissioning ceremony for newly appointed prosecutors at the Government Complex Gwacheon in Gyeonggi Province on Monday morning. Speaking to reporters following the event, he was asked about his earlier position that any side effects of the amended Criminal Procedure Act would be addressed promptly. "I have studied law for a long time and have studied the Criminal Procedure Act extensively, but I think this is the first time I have seen it amended at the speed of light," he said.
The National Assembly passed the Criminal Procedure Act amendments on July 31, led by the Democratic Party of Korea. The revisions abolish prosecutors' investigative powers, including their supplementary investigative authority. The amendments also include provisions restructuring the right to request supplementary investigations, with a maximum compliance period of two months, though critics have raised concerns about their practical effectiveness.
"The new system was designed with good intentions, but no one can predict what side effects will emerge in the field or how it will actually work," Jeong said. "If unexpected problems arise in the operation of the criminal justice system — or problems that exceed what was anticipated — they must be addressed and corrected swiftly."
He added that "the criminal justice system is too important for protecting the lives, property and safety of the people, so if side effects emerge, the damage could worsen. If problems arise that do not match the realities on the ground, should we not fix them quickly?"
Some in the legal community have called for filing a constitutional competence dispute over the amendments. Jeong said the Justice Ministry had presented a government-agreed proposal during the legislative review process and that much of it had been reflected in the final bill. "It would not be appropriate for the Justice Ministry to file a competence dispute," he said.
After the amendments passed the National Assembly on July 31, Gu Ja-hyeon, acting prosecutor general and deputy chief of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, submitted his resignation. Gu said he had "continuously raised concerns that the amendments would force prosecutors to decide whether to indict based solely on investigation records, make it difficult to adequately protect victims, and create an inefficient structure that demands significant time and cost."
On this, Jeong said he had spoken to prosecutors at the Justice Ministry that morning, telling them "not to be unsettled, but to take pride as those responsible for protecting the lives and property of the people and not to lose their sense of responsibility." He added that while Gu's resignation was regrettable, his message to front-line prosecutors was to "carry out their duties without wavering."
The National Assembly is moving forward with follow-up legislation to introduce mandatory full-case referral for seven categories of crimes targeting socially vulnerable groups, following the passage of the Criminal Procedure Act amendments. Jeong said that "even for the seven categories of crimes, there will likely be many related laws in practice," and that "the scope must be set so that socially vulnerable people are protected to the greatest extent possible."
The People Power Party has argued that President Lee Jae-myung should exercise his veto over the Criminal Procedure Act amendments. Jeong said, "Since the veto system was introduced into law, has a minister ever recommended its exercise? I do not think it is appropriate for a minister to recommend a veto."
Regarding reports that Jeong had submitted his resignation after the Democratic Party adopted the abolition of prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers as its official position — before the amendments passed — Jeong said he had in fact intended to resign for some time. "I submitted my resignation because I have not been in good health and felt it was a burden to carry out my duties as minister," he said.
At the commissioning ceremony, Jeong urged the new prosecutors to focus on three things: upholding due process and protecting human rights while shielding the public from crime; bringing a sense of mission and competence to help the new criminal justice system take root; and embracing a new role for prosecutors centered on remedying the rights of the people.
"Going forward, the weight of prosecutors' duties will shift toward recovering criminal proceeds to provide real relief to crime victims, serving as a control tower for serious crimes requiring a high level of legal expertise — such as financial, securities and unfair-trade offenses — and maintaining public prosecutions that transparently reveal the truth in open court," Jeong said.
bell@heraldcorp.com
