The Constitutional Court has agreed to formally review a petition filed by the People Power Party (PPP) against a revised Criminal Procedure Act that strips prosecutors of their direct investigative and supplementary investigation powers, the party's petition clearing an initial screening.
According to legal circles on the 26th, the court referred the case — a constitutional petition seeking to confirm that the revised law is unconstitutional, filed by the PPP on the 13th of this month — to a full-bench review the previous day. A three-justice panel found that the petition met the legal requirements and sent it to the full bench, where nine justices will deliberate.
The PPP argued that the revised law violates the principle of due process and the right to physical liberty; the warrant requirement and prosecutors' inherent authority to request warrants; the right to a speedy and fair trial; the presumption of innocence; the right of crime victims to make statements in trial proceedings; and the principle against excessive restriction. "By abolishing prosecutors' investigative powers while still allowing a suspect handed over by police to be detained for up to 20 days, the law creates what is known as 'detention without investigation,'" the party said. "During the detention period, prosecutors cannot investigate directly or gather additional evidence, effectively reducing them to 'passive reviewers' who have no choice but to accept the results of police investigations as they are."
Kim Tae-gyu, head of the PPP's legal advisory committee, has urged the Constitutional Court to rule swiftly so that gaps in the criminal justice system — arising from the abolition of both prosecutors' direct and supplementary investigation powers — do not lead to violations of citizens' basic rights.
The revised Criminal Procedure Act was passed at a National Assembly plenary session on the 31st of last month, led by the Democratic Party of Korea, and cleared a Cabinet meeting on the 4th of this month.
