Democratic Party adopts party line on ‘3 prosecution reform laws’ including abolition of prosecution office after National Assembly inspection
The opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of Korea, have begun discussions on enacting a special law to restrict the president’s right to request reconsideration (veto) at the National Assembly Steering Committee. After the People Power Party lawmakers protested, saying, “This infringes on the president’s authority guaranteed by the Constitution,” and left the chamber, the opposition party took sole responsibility for the bill’s deliberation and referral to the subcommittee. The Democratic Party is also reviewing a bill to adopt a party platform and push forward with the “Season 2 of the Prosecution Service’s Complete Investigation Authority” bill, including the abolition of the prosecution service, increasing the level of pressure on the presidential office and the prosecution.
On the morning of the 25th, the National Assembly Steering Committee referred the bill on the ‘Special Act on the Exercise of the President’s Right to Request Reconsideration’ jointly proposed by Democratic Party Rep. Kim Yong-min and Fatherland Innovation Party Rep. Hwang Un-ha to the National Assembly Steering Improvement Subcommittee at a plenary session.
The bill stipulates that the president will refrain from exercising his veto in cases related to criminal charges against the president, his spouse, and relatives within the fourth degree of kinship, or in cases related to preventing conflicts of interest in the official duties of public officials. If the bill is enacted, it will be difficult for the president to exercise his veto on the Kim Gun-hee Special Prosecutor Act and the Chae Sang-byung Special Prosecutor Act, which have been repeatedly pushed through by the National Assembly and vetoed. In addition, if the president wishes to exercise his veto, he must prove that the bill is clearly unconstitutional and likely to cause serious financial burden.
The opposition party also submitted a bill to the subcommittee to amend the National Assembly Act, which would prevent the person involved from resigning or being dismissed if an impeachment motion is proposed in the National Assembly. The intention is to prevent something similar to the case of the chairman of the Korea Communications Standards Commission resigning immediately after the opposition party proposed an impeachment motion.
Bae Joon-young, the People Power Party’s senior deputy floor leader, who is part of the National Assembly Steering Committee, argued at the meeting that day, “It seriously violates the principle of separation of powers because it infringes on the president’s authority through law, and during the impeachment process, which takes more than half a year, there will be a vacuum and chaos in state affairs and the executive branch.” The ruling party also criticized the amendment banning the voluntary resignation of the party involved in the impeachment motion, saying, “There are concerns that the prolonged vacuum in business will lead to chaos in state affairs.”
The Democratic Party is also planning to adopt the “three prosecution reform laws” (the Serious Crimes Investigation Office Act, the Public Prosecution Office Act, and the Prosecution Office Abolition Act) as a party platform after the state audit, which abolish the prosecution and give investigative and prosecutorial powers to the Serious Crimes Investigation Office and the Public Prosecution Office, respectively. After the prosecution demanded a two-year prison sentence for Lee Jae-myung on the 20th for violating the Public Official Election Act, the Democratic Party responded by starting the “Prosecution Reform Season 2” legislation in earnest. The Democratic Party plans to finalize the three prosecution reform laws within the regular National Assembly session.
The Democratic Party is also pushing for the “crime of distortion of law (amendment to the criminal law)” that would punish prosecutors and others who distort the law by concealing evidence, etc., with up to 10 years in prison and suspension of their licenses, and the “targeted investigation prohibition law (amendment to the criminal procedure law)” that would allow courts to reject warrant requests if the prosecution suspects targeted investigations.
Reporter Kwon Gu-yong [email protected]
Reporter Ahn Gyu-young [email protected]
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2024-09-26 01:21:36