The Constitutional Complaint Hearing on the Complete Elimination of Prosecutorial Investigation Authority Rekindles the Constitutional Controversy Over Prosecutors' Investigation Powers

The Constitutional Court is reviewing whether the amended Criminal Procedure Act, which completely abolished prosecutors' investigative authority, is unconstitutional. The constitutional complaint filed by the People Power Party has passed the procedural review and been referred to the full bench, and a conclusion will be reached only if at least 6 of the 9 justices agree that it is unconstitutional or incompatible with the Constitution. The issue is whether the prosecutor's constitutional authority to request warrants also includes investigative authority. While the People Power Party argues that leaving prosecutors only with the authority to request warrants while stripping them of investigative powers is unconstitutional, the amended law removed prosecutors' direct investigative authority and shifted the focus to their roles in filing and maintaining charges. The Constitutional Court had already ruled 54 in favor of constitutionality on a similar legislative amendment three years ago. At that time, it was a competence dispute trial over a partial reduction of prosecutors' investigative authority, and even among the justices, opinions differed on the relationship between the authority to request warrants and investigative authority. Since this case concerns the complete deprivation of investigative authority, the legal issues and political repercussions are once again growing larger.