Serving Prosecutor Files Challenge at Constitutional Court Against Bill Abolishing Prosecutors' Investigative Powers
Oh Se-hyun, a prosecutor at the Yeongwol Branch of the Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office, filed a competence dispute petition against the National Assembly with the Constitutional Court on the 22nd in protest of a Criminal Procedure Act amendment that would strip prosecutors of their direct investigative powers. A competence dispute is a procedure in which the Constitutional Court rules on disputes between state institutions over the scope or attribution of their authority. Prosecutor Oh also filed for an injunction seeking to suspend the amended act's effect pending the court's ruling on the merits.
The dispute traces back to July 31. After the Criminal Procedure Act amendment, spearheaded by the Democratic Party and other opposition parties, passed a plenary session of the National Assembly, Prosecutor Oh argued that the legislation was unconstitutional. In a post on the prosecutors' internal network 'E-Prosecutor,' he reportedly claimed that prosecutors' authority to direct investigations is grounded in the Constitution.
Prosecutor Oh's argument rests on a Constitutional Court decision from 28 years ago. In a case brought by former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo challenging a court's issuance of additional arrest warrants, the court ruled that requiring a prosecutor's petition at the investigative stage was merely a mechanism for the courts to check the exercise of power by investigative agencies. The court held at the time that such a check was unnecessary at the trial stage. Prosecutor Oh argues that, based on this and other rulings, prosecutors' investigative authority has a constitutional basis.
Prosecutor Oh also questioned the limits of legislative power. He argued that since separate safeguards against prosecutorial overreach already exist—such as oversight of investigations through the Corruption Investigation Office and the application of the crime of law distortion—eliminating prosecutors' investigative powers altogether exceeds the scope of the National Assembly's discretionary legislative power.
The Constitutional Court is currently reviewing both the competence dispute petition and the request for a stay of effect, with no specific ruling date set. Meanwhile, under the amended Criminal Procedure Act passed by the National Assembly on July 31, the prosecution service will reopen on October 2 as an office solely responsible for indictment and the maintenance of prosecution.
