Justice Ministry seeks to overturn prosecution reform bill

The Justice Ministry is seeking to overturn a pending prosecution reform bill that would strip prosecutors of its investigative powers and delegate them to police, a local media outlet reported Wednesday.

The reports said a senior Justice Ministry official met with several lawmakers -- from both sides of aisle -- and discussed restrengthening the prosecution, amid a prolonged parliament deadlock over the reform bill.

The senior official reportedly told legislators that the prosecution should be able to continue to investigate key cases involving election, terrorism and a national disaster even if the reform bill passes. Prosecutors should be able oversee police investigations when necessary, he added.

Legal experts remain divided over the Justice Ministry’s move to reverse the bill.

“The reason the bill is on the table is that we’ve seen too many problems involving the prosecution abusing the investigative power,” said Lee Yung-hyeock, a professor of police science at Konkuk University. “It’s time for change. The bill is a check on the prosecutors’ power monopoly.”

But some experts disagreed.

“Police far outnumber prosecutors. What if police take on the investigative power abuse that?” said Ji Seong-woo, a constitutional law professor at Sungkyunkwan University. “People are likely to see a police officer rather than a prosecutor. So who’s checking on their (police’s) abuse of power?”

Chung Tae-won, a prosecutor-turned-attorney, said the reform bill is full of loopholes because it does not provide for anything that could prevent such abuse. “No one’s talking about how to put a stronger police under checks, that’s worse,” Chung said.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)