New Prosecutorial Oversight Division to Reexamine Police Cases Closed Without Referral

South Korea’s new Prosecution Office will create a dedicated mechanism to revisit cases that police or other investigative bodies close without referring them for prosecution. The Justice Ministry says the measure responds to victims’ fears that such cases could effectively be buried.

The office is scheduled to launch on October 2. The ministry said it had prepared draft rules creating a Judicial Oversight Division in each of the country’s 18 regional prosecution offices. The proposal was opened for public notice until the 9th.

Prosecutors assigned to the new divisions will review investigation records in cases that police or the Major Crimes Investigation Agency dismissed as involving no wrongdoing or otherwise closed without referral. They will decide whether to request a reinvestigation. The ministry said the divisions would use a fact-finding procedure introduced under the revised Criminal Procedure Act to examine cases closely and respond to investigations deemed inadequate or unlawful.

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If the police decide not to refer a case, it could be buried.

The divisions will also be able to request disciplinary measures or the suspension of officers who refuse, without legitimate reason, prosecutors’ requests for supplementary investigations. At the same time, the reorganization removes prosecution units that had verified criminal intelligence and eliminates the word “investigation” from department names as prosecutors lose their investigative powers.

The former Scientific Investigation Division, led at the level of a chief prosecutor, will become a smaller forensic planning office. Field forensic work will move to the Major Crimes Investigation Agency. Anti-corruption and narcotics and organized-crime units will merge into a major-crimes division, while 67 investigation and inquiry offices staffed by prosecution investigators will disappear. The major-crimes unit will support the agency’s investigations and handle prosecutions rather than conduct its own investigations. The number of prosecutors will remain at 2,292, while the general staff establishment will be 6,120, nearly 2,000 fewer than under the existing prosecution service.

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We will use the fact-finding procedure to examine cases not referred for prosecution closely, and handle requests for reinvestigation and accountability for inadequate or unlawful investigations.