SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Yonhap) -- The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) plans to file a constitutional complaint against a recent legal revision abolishing prosecutors' authority to conduct direct investigations, a party official said Wednesday.

The PPP has voiced concerns over the revision to the Criminal Procedure Act, arguing that abolishing prosecutors' investigative authority could conflict with their constitutionally recognized right to request warrants and weaken protection for victims.

"We plan to file it within this week or by early next week at the latest," a party floor official told Yonhap News Agency.

The bill was approved by the Cabinet last week despite calls from the PPP for President Lee Jae Myung to veto it.

PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sig said his party is preparing to file the complaint, stressing that the revision runs counter to the country's criminal justice system.

"The Constitution recognizes the prosecutors' rights to request warrants, and we believe it is unconstitutional to have the prosecution apply for warrants while barring them from conducting investigations," he said on a YouTube program of Channel A. "We are preparing to file a constitutional complaint."

"Under the modern criminal justice system, the prosecution keeps police investigations in check through their investigative powers, while courts keep the prosecution's investigative powers in check through their judicial authority," he added, emphasizing that the revision will strip away such checks and balances.

The revision is set to take effect Oct. 2, when the prosecution is scheduled to be reorganized into two new agencies separately tasked with handling investigations and indictments.

Under the revision, prosecutors will be stripped of their rights to conduct direct investigations, including supplementary investigation, leaving investigation authority solely to the police. They can instead request the police to carry out such investigations, which police will have up to two months to complete.

The PPP has also argued the revision would pave the way for the prosecution and courts to drop charges against Lee, who had been standing a number of trials before they were suspended after he took office in June 2025.

Lee, meanwhile, has stressed the need for the revision, saying that prosecutors have exercised excessive authority ranging from indictments to the right to request court warrants over the past several decades.

julesyi@yna.co.kr

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