By Lee Jin-woo
Staff Reporter

Prosecutors and police have failed to compromise over proposed adjustments to their investigative rights, challenging the nation’s judiciary reform.

Now, the ball seems to be in President Roh Moo-hyun’s court to come up with a solution to the matter.

On April 21, President Roh, who pledged in 2002 during his presidential campaign to have police take over the investigative authority of prosecutors, showed his willingness to preside over a public discussion with both parties to reach a compromise.

The 14-member committee met for over 10 hours at the Hotel President in central Seoul on Monday but failed to reach a conclusion on major issues.

Prosecutors desperately opposed proposals for the revision of the nation’s code of criminal procedure stipulating that only prosecutors have investigative authority and the police must follow orders from the prosecution when investigating criminal cases.

Committee members in support of a greater investigative role for police suggested the officers be allowed to conduct investigations independently as up to 97 percent of the total criminal cases are actually investigated by about 150,000 police officers nationwide.

Meanwhile, the other half the committee were in support of the prosecution, saying the sensitive issue should next be handled more carefully by a special presidential or prime minister’s committee.

Meantime, about 100 junior prosecutors of Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office met for around five hours on the same day, expressing their objection to the draft revision of the code of criminal procedure proposed by the Presidential Commission on Judicial Reform last month.

The draft intends to give independent investigative power to police by removing the legitimacy as legal evidence of a suspect’s statements made during the prosecutors’ investigation and prohibiting prosecutors from questioning the accused ahead of court trials.

In a statement issued after the meeting, prosecutors stated that the presidential commission’s proposal lacks care in consideration of its negative side effects. They also expressed doubt over the aim of the commission’s hasty procedures to finalize the draft for criminal law reform.

Similar meetings of working-level prosecutors were also held at district prosecutors’ offices in Pusan and Taegu on Tuesday.

On April 27, the prosecution first officially expressed its objection by holding an emergency meeting of senior prosecutors both in Seoul and in Kyonggi Province.

Kim Jong-bin, prosecutor general of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, told reporters on Tuesday that the prosecutors’ views were understandable given that they are the ones who may face losing their investigative role.

However, the presidential office of Chong Wa Dae seems to consider the prosecutors’ meeting as an inappropriate way for the prosecution to express their opinions.

``Although it is natural to want to express their ideas over the issue, I don’t believe it is an appropriate way of showing what they think,’’ Moon Jae-in, senior presidential aide for social affairs, one of President Roh Moo-hyun’s right-hand men, told Yonhap News, a local wire service, in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

Moon added prosecutors should make use of the presidential commission’s vice-minister level meeting scheduled on May 9 and a general meeting on May 16 as a chance to express their views, before the final proposal has been made.

However, regarding a public discussion with President Roh, Moon said nothing has been planned as a result of Tuesday’s meeting. Proposed readjustments to the investigative authority of the prosecution and the police have not been reported to Chong Wa Dae officially yet.

things@koreatimes.co.kr