Former Prosecution Reform Advisory Committee Chair: "Let's Create a Presidential Evaluation Committee for the New Judicial System"

[Financial News] Park Chan-un, a former chair of the advisory committee to the Prosecution Reform Task Force under the Prime Minister's Office, proposed establishing a presidential Prosecution Reform Evaluation Committee to continuously review the new criminal justice system.
Park said on Facebook on the 21st, "Let's immediately establish a provisional 'Prosecution Reform Evaluation Committee' directly under the President," adding, "It would hold regular meetings about once a month to review how the new criminal justice system is functioning."
The proposal calls for collecting and analyzing relevant data every month, conducting an interim evaluation six months after the system is implemented, and carrying out a comprehensive evaluation after one year. If the results indicate that problems are merely initial implementation difficulties, the committee would recommend operational improvements. If they point to structural defects, it would recommend supplementary legislation to the government and the National Assembly.
The review would not be limited to the Public Prosecution Office and the Serious Crime Investigation Agency (SCIA). Instead, it would assess all state agencies responsible for investigation and prosecution—including the police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO)—as a single criminal justice system.
Park proposed the following specific evaluation criteria: the time required to process cases; the efficiency of case transfers and workload distribution among investigative agencies; whether investigative gaps or overlaps exist; whether the capacity to respond to serious crimes is being maintained; progress in investigations following the abolition of prosecutors' direct supplementary investigations; oversight of the police and remedies for victims' rights; problems in the prosecution process; and the impact of investigative procedures on trial proceedings.
He also stressed that the committee's composition should reflect a range of views. Park stated, "It should not consist solely of criminal law experts. Acclaimed experts in related fields, including criminal policy, administration, human rights, and statistics, as well as representatives of civil society, should participate together."
He further proposed including an appropriate balance of people who supported prosecution reform, those who had criticized it, and experts who had not been deeply involved in any particular position, in order to ensure the objectivity and fairness of the evaluation.
Park emphasized, "This is responsible governance by the President and the ruling party," adding, "President Lee Jae Myung's call for 'thorough review and improvements' must not stop at words. It must be turned into an objective and continuous evaluation system."
Jeong Seong-ho, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker and former Minister of Justice, also responded to Park's post, calling it "a very necessary and good proposal." Jeong added, "We must closely examine the implementation process and its results and be prepared to promptly address any side effects that may arise later."
 
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