Police Get Investigational Authority

The Uri Party settled its mediating position on the controversial issue of the investigational authority of the police and the Prosecutor’s Office yesterday.

The Uri Party defined yesterday that the police have authority over criminal investigations equal to that of the prosecutor’s office, and introduced an amendment to the code of criminal procedures recognizing the independent investigational authority of the police.

The prosecutor’s office is getting ready to respond by calling an emergency meeting of chief prosecutors all over the nation. In particular, common prosecutors are showing strong objections to this action by the ruling party, and there is a possibility of confrontation.

The police, on the other hand, welcomed the action by stating that it “respects the ruling party’s argument.”

The Uri Party’s “mediation and policy making committee for investigational authorities of the police and the prosecutor’s Office” held a press conference yesterday and vowed to transform the existing vertical relationship between the prosecutor’s office and the police into a relationship of mutual cooperation.

The ruling party also decided to endow the police with the authority to investigate crimes, which so far has been reserved only for the prosecutor’s office. The categories of criminal investigation that police conduct with the order from the prosecutor’s office will be restricted to crimes defined by presidential order, such as treason and foreign currency crimes. These actions will significantly strengthen the police’s authority.

The prosecutor’s office held an emergency meeting in an eighth-floor conference room of the prosecutor’s office building yesterday. A total of 22 nationwide district and high prosecutor’s office chiefs attended the meeting and reached an agreement that although the police could be recognized as an executor of investigations, it should be based on the premise that the prosecutor’s office secures the factual investigational authority.