P.M.’s office draws up modified police-prosecutor probe rules

The police have rejected the modified presidential decree on the investigative powers of the police and prosecutors disclosed Wednesday, saying that a full agreement was not reached.

The Prime Minister’s Office announced the modified version on Wednesday, saying that this version is aimed at minimizing friction between prosecutors and the police.

The presidential decree establishes areas where the police will be under public prosecutors’ command in investigating cases according to the revised Criminal Procedure Act that was approved by the National Assembly in June.

Although the revised law gave law enforcers rights to open investigations without orders from prosecutors, the two organizations have been at odds over changes that would reduce the police’s ability to conduct investigations independently of the prosecutors’ office.

Under the modified plan, all police investigations will be conducted according to written directives issued by public prosecutors.

However, the police will be given the right to ask for new directives when deemed necessary.

Regarding the police’s right to conduct investigations internally without orders from the public prosecutors, the modified decree states that the police will be allowed to continue conducting such investigations, but will be required to submit documents and evidence to the prosecutors after the related procedures are closed.

While the Prime Minister’s Office said that the modified plans do not give the prosecutors command over the police, the changes are not sitting well with officers.

“In the modified plans drawn up by the Prime Minister’s Office, the part regarding internal investigative processes has been changed for the worse,” National Police Agency Commissioner General Cho Hyun-oh said at the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee meeting on Wednesday.

Saying that while he knows the Prime Minister’s Office is of the view that the cause of friction between the two organizations will remain without a change in the framework of investigation processes, the police will not be able to accept the plans that “break the organization’s pride and prevent it from fulfilling its functions and duties.”

“If internal investigations violate human rights, then it is a matter that should be addressed through the Criminal Procedure Act not through a presidential decree.”

The modified decree also drew fire from working-level police officers involved in the revision process, who said that disagreements over many parts of the decree were left unresolved and that the agency will express its views and try to narrow differences through multiple channels.

The Prime Minister’s Office, however, indicated that Wednesday’s version was final and said it is aimed at minimizing friction and protecting the rights of the people.

“The documents are submitted to the prosecutors after police investigations are closed. That is not (being) commanded,” Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office Yim Jong-yong said. He added that the custom of the prosecutors office examining police reports on closed internal investigations has existed and that the changes made by his office removes such grey areas in police-prosecutor relations.

Regarding cases prosecutors find dissatisfactory, Yim said that the office will be responsible for any reinvestigations, but it will have the option of negotiating concerned matters with the police.

“If internal investigations, conducted independently by the police, involve matters related to the rights of citizens, then a means to control the process is required. (The modified plans) are not a command but a means to exert control after the fact.”

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)