Members see no reason to continue after plan to close key prosecution unit derailed


The special parliamentary committee on judicial reform decided to end its 16-month term, without any of its major issues being solved.

The committee will continue until the end of the month, as originally planned, and the pending issues will be handed over to the legislation and judiciary committee, officials said Monday.

The heated discussion on the abolishment of the prosecution’s Central Investigation Department, which was a major mission for the special committee, is likely to end too.

“We have decided that no further progresses may be made on the given issues,” said Rep. Kim Dong-cheol of the main opposition Democratic Party.

The committee rejected earlier suggestions to prolong its term in order to resolve the pending issues.

The special committee was established last March amid public criticism of the prosecution following the death of President Roh Moo-hyun.

Though it reached a general agreement on several issues, such as banning former judges and prosecutors from becoming lawyers for a period after retiring, the most disputed subject was whether to close down the CID.

In March, the committee pledged to abolish it, citing its vulnerability to political pressure and excessive authority.

Over the following months the plan was met with a fierce backlash from the prosecution and the ruling Grand National Party, together with the intervention of Cheong Wa Dae.

“Many blame the committee for giving up on the mission of judicial reform and I humbly embrace all judgments,” said the committee chairman Lee Ju-young.

“We nevertheless have seen positive results in some of our aspired goals, such as revising the lawyer’s act.”

The closure of the committee does not mean that attempts for judicial reform are finished.

Rep. Park Young-sun of the DP claimed that the issues would be better discussed in the permanent legislation and judiciary committee.

“The reform committee was performing above expectations until Cheong Wa Dae and the ruling party stepped in,” she said in a radio interview on Wednesday.

“As GNP lawmakers took sides with the presidential house and broke their earlier agreements, we felt it would be futile to continue the discussions within this framework.”

Observers were skeptical about continuing the discussions elsewhere, especially as the special committee was originally created to substitute the permanent committee in dealing with controversial judicial issues.

“I strongly oppose the committee’s decision to quit on the judicial reform project,” Rep. Chung Doo-un, a core reform-inclined member within the ruling party said on Twitter.

“Parties agreed to close down the CID for a valid reason and this decision should not have been swayed by outside pressure.”

Another GNP lawmaker, Rep. Park Min-shik, also expressed his regret over the termination of the committee’s activities, though he did not agree with closing down the CID.

“It would have been a premature decision to abolish the department while it is largely performing its given functions,” Park said.

“However, I am sorry that the parliamentary efforts for judicial reform should be repeatedly discouraged by specific interests and political purposes.”

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)