'Hot Potato' Legislation Committee, Bill Proposed to Delegate Systematic and Substantive Review Authority to Separate Body

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] A bill has been proposed to formally maintain the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's (Legislation and Judiciary Committee, or Law Committee) authority to review the system and wording of bills, but in practice delegate this responsibility to a separate specialized body. This is a kind of compromise that emerged after the ruling and opposition parties agreed to hand over the chairmanship of the Law Committee from the Democratic Party to the People Power Party following the presidential election, amid calls within the Democratic Party to abolish the system and wording review authority. The issue is expected to remain a "hot potato" in the presidential election political landscape.

According to the National Assembly on the 20th, Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Hae-sik introduced a revision bill to the National Assembly Act the day before, which establishes a specialized legislative body within the National Assembly Secretariat to review the system and wording of bills, with the Law Committee reviewing bills by referring to the opinions of this body.

This is contextually similar to bills recently introduced by fellow Democratic Party lawmakers Park Ju-min and Min Hyung-bae, as well as Open Democratic Party lawmaker Kang Min-jung, which completely abolish the Law Committee's authority to review system and wording. However, it differs in that it formally maintains the authority by reviewing bills "with reference to" the specialized body's opinions.

Last month, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to shorten the Law Committee's review period for system and wording from 120 days to 60 days and to include an explicit clause stating that the review must not exceed the scope of system and wording. This agreement passed the National Assembly Steering Committee's Improvement Subcommittee on the 17th. It is highly likely to pass the full Steering Committee meeting on the 23rd and the plenary session on the 25th.

Nevertheless, reform-minded Democratic Party lawmakers, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, and former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, all presidential primary candidates, have expressed the need for reconsideration. Although a safety mechanism was put in place as a condition for handing over the chairmanship of the Law Committee, they believe that as long as the system and wording review authority remains with the Law Committee, there is still potential for abuse such as "senate-style" obstruction or "foot-dragging." Reform-minded Democratic lawmakers including Jeong Cheong-rae have demanded reconsideration and called for a party caucus meeting.

However, the People Power Party has strongly opposed any attempt to revise the agreement, warning that it could lead to a parliamentary deadlock. In this context, Lee's bill serves as a compromise. Han Byung-do, a Democratic Party lawmaker and chair of the Steering Committee Subcommittee, is also a co-sponsor. Even if the agreement passes in the August National Assembly, discussions on amendments are expected to continue.

Above all, it is considered that if the ruling party's candidate wins the presidential election, absolute cooperation from the National Assembly will be necessary in the early stages of the term. Governor Lee said, "Considering the Democratic Party's overwhelming majority, there is no reason to give up the Law Committee," and proposed "a joint declaration requesting candidates to reconsider conceding the Law Committee and reducing its authority." A representative from Lee Jae-myung's campaign stated, "We view the Law Committee issue very seriously because the reform momentum could weaken in the early stages of the administration."

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