The Justice Ministry on April 30 submitted a proposal concerning criminal investigations and trials to a special panel of the Legislative Council, an advisory body for the justice minister. The proposal will serve as a basis for further discussions among the panel members.
But the proposal by the ministry, which serves as the secretariat for the council, allows investigators wide discretion to evade an obligation to electronically record the entire interrogations of criminal suspects and expands the range of investigative methods that authorities can utilize.
The ministry should keep in mind that the special panel was set up in June 2011 primarily to eliminate the possibility of false charges being filed. Those members of the special panel who hail from the ministry, the National Police Agency and the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office should concentrate on establishing a system that will prevent the police and the prosecution from filing false charges.