The Legislation Committee to Block 'Rooftop Structures, Foot-Dragging, and Senate-Style'... Byungho Han Proposes 'National Assembly Act Amendment'

20 National Assembly Members Jointly Propose
Specifying the Scope of Judiciary Committee's Systematic and Textual Review
If Not Reviewed Within 50 Days, Request for Plenary Session Submission by Majority Vote of Standing Committee

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Han Byung-do, the senior deputy floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (re-elected, Jeonbuk Iksan-eul), has introduced a “National Assembly Act Amendment” bill to clearly define the scope of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s systematic and textual review and to reduce the review period to 50 days. The purpose is to prevent the Legislation and Judiciary Committee from becoming an “upper house” or a “roof on a roof.”

According to current law, all bills that have completed review and approval by the relevant standing committee must undergo systematic and textual review by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee before being submitted to the plenary session. However, there has been an issue of bills being held up in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee for extended periods by exploiting this process.

Additionally, the unclear scope of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s systematic and textual review has been criticized. There have been accusations that the committee acts as an upper house by modifying the intent and content of bills passed by the relevant standing committee during the review process.

In response, Senior Deputy Floor Leader Han Byung-do clearly defined the scope of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s systematic and textual review through amendments to the National Assembly Act. A new paragraph was added to Article 86 (Systematic and Textual Review) to limit the scope of systematic review to examining the constitutionality of the bill’s content, conflicts with related laws, and contradictions within the bill’s provisions, thereby organizing the legal form.

Furthermore, the scope of textual review was defined as examining the accuracy of regulations, appropriateness and consistency of terminology, and standardizing legal terms across laws. This prevents the review of the purpose and policy content of the bills under review.

If the Legislation and Judiciary Committee fails to complete the review of a bill referred from each standing committee within 50 days, the bill can be requested to be submitted to the plenary session by a majority vote of the relevant standing committee members, enabling faster processing of bills.

Senior Deputy Floor Leader Han emphasized, “It is true that until now, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee has gone beyond its original role of systematic and textual review and has functioned as a ‘roof on a roof’ by changing the basic intent and content of bills.” He added, “Through this amendment, we will clearly redefine the role of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and eliminate obstructionist old-style politics.”

He continued, “From now on, bills related to the public’s life, safety, and livelihood will be processed swiftly regardless of political gains or losses, so that the National Assembly can gain the trust of the people.”

The amendment bill was signed by a total of 20 members, including Senior Deputy Floor Leader Han, Kang Sun-woo, Kang Jun-hyun, Kim Min-seok, Kim Min-cheol, Kim Byung-joo, Kim Sung-joo, Kim Sung-hwan, Kim Seung-won, Do Jong-hwan, Shin Hyun-young, Yoo Jung-joo, Yoon Ho-jung, Lee Soo-jin, Lee Soo-jin, Lee Hak-young, Lee Hyung-seok, Han Jun-ho, Heo Young, and Hong Ki-won.

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