Ruling Party Pushes Follow-up Legislation in August After Abolishing Supplementary Investigation Rights, Seeks Transfer of All 7 Major Crimes

News 1 [Financial News] The Democratic Party of Korea said it will discuss introducing a system that requires all cases involving crimes against vulnerable groups to be transferred to prosecutors in August as a follow-up measure after abolishing supplementary investigation rights. Kim Sung-hoe, the DPK's spokesperson, told reporters after a party caucus meeting before the plenary session at the National Assembly on the 30th, "If the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act passes, we will discuss a plan to transfer all seven major crimes to prosecutors as a follow-up measure to protect vulnerable groups.
" He added, "Related individual bills have already been proposed, or additional proposals are needed. " The seven crime categories under review for mandatory transfer are child abuse, sex crimes, sex crimes against children, domestic violence, stalking, abuse of people with disabilities, and elder abuse.
Under the all-case transfer system, police send every case they investigate to prosecutors, regardless of whether they recommend indictment or non-indictment. At present, if police decide not to transfer a case, they can close it on their own.
For these crimes, however, the case would have to go through a prosecutor's review, with the aim of reducing the risk of poor investigations or case concealment. The DPK is pushing ahead with this follow-up legislation on the view that if prosecutors lose their supplementary investigation rights, additional checks are needed to balance police investigations.
The move also appears to have been influenced by calls to strengthen victim protection measures after the "Jang Yoon-gi murder case" in May. Kim said, "We have decided to immediately discuss how to handle the individual bills related to the seven major crimes and what needs to be included.
" He added, "We will gather opinions as quickly as possible in August and move forward with legislation.
" The amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act of the Republic of Korea was introduced at the National Assembly plenary session on the day.
The People Power Party is responding with a filibuster.
[email protected] Song Ji-won Kim Hyeong-gu Reporter