Submit Petitions Online and Make Them Public... 'National Petition Rights' Significantly Strengthened

Ministry of the Interior and Safety Fully Revises Cheongwon Act After 60 Years... Expanding Protection of Citizens' Rights

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The 'petition application,' which was previously only possible in writing, can now be submitted online, and when citizens submit petitions, they will go through a 'Petition Review Committee,' strengthening the processing procedures.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that the full revision of the 'Petition Act,' containing these details, was approved at the Cabinet meeting on the 15th and will be promulgated on the 18th.

Enacted in 1961, the Petition Act (Article 26 of the Constitution) is a law that stipulates the procedures and handling matters so that any citizen can exercise the right to petition if they suffer damage from public institution policies or experience inconvenience due to laws, systems, etc.

However, there were inconveniences such as having to visit the relevant institution in person to apply for a petition, and petitions were only formally processed through internal reviews within the petition institutions, leading to demands for a fair processing procedure. In particular, there were no clear regulations regarding processing, and enforcement ordinances such as presidential decrees were not properly established, causing difficulties even for the institutions handling petitions.

The revised Petition Act includes ▲ implementation of online petitions ▲ introduction of a public petition system ▲ establishment and operation of petition review committees by institution ▲ and specific provisions on petition receipt, processing procedures, and investigation methods, significantly addressing previous inconveniences.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will newly establish an online petition system so that petition receipt and processing procedures can be checked at a glance with the implementation of online petitions under this revision. Also, if the petitioner wishes to make the petition public, the petition content will be disclosed on the online petition system, and a procedure to collect public opinions for 30 days from the date of the public petition decision will be prepared.

However, the subjects of public petitions are matters related to the enactment, revision, or abolition of laws, public systems, or facility operations, and the decision on whether to disclose will be made by the Petition Review Committee. Also, when establishing petition review committees by each institution, general citizens must be included as members to prepare procedures that protect petitioners.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to enact the 'Enforcement Decree of the Petition Act' by the end of next year to implement the revised law, and to build the online petition system by the end of 2022 to ensure the full implementation of the Petition Act.

Minister Jin Young of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said, "Petitions play a supplementary role in areas where existing relief procedures such as civil complaints and lawsuits cannot resolve issues," and added, "With this revision of the Petition Act, we expect a virtuous cycle structure that values citizens' voices in policy to be established and a culture of active citizen participation to spread."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.