Prosecution, police agree on gov't mediation on criminal law reform

SEOUL (Yonhap) - The prosecution and police on Monday agreed to end their long-standing disputes over the rights to open criminal investigations through government arbitration, officials said.
According to the compromise agreement announced in the attendance of Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, both parties agreed to the revision of the Criminal Procedure Code, which calls for granting police investigators partial rights in the opening of criminal probes.
Under the revision, subject to parliamentary approval, police can open and proceed with investigations into criminal suspects, criminal facts and evidence when there is sufficiently perceived suspicion of crimes.
Prosecutors have so far stubbornly opposed sharing their rights to open criminal investigations with police.