Seoul City-Council Conflict Over 'Revised Ordinance'... Seoul City Decides to Request Reconsideration

Seoul City Claims "Additional Restrictions on Mayor's Speaking Rights Are Excessive Abuse of Legislative Power"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 11th, Seoul City announced that it has decided to request reconsideration, judging that the 'Partial Amendment to the Basic Ordinance of the Seoul Metropolitan Council,' which was passed on December 31 of last year, violates higher laws such as the Constitution and the Local Autonomy Act.

Seoul City stated, "Regarding the 'Council Member Policy Support Officer' in the ordinance, the higher laws delegate matters to be stipulated by ordinance, but the ordinance only broadly regulates the matter and re-delegates it to rules, which violates the principle of prohibition of broad delegation." It also argued, "The provision that obliges the chairperson to 'make efforts to assign policy support officers exceeding the number of council members' contains content that denies the limit set by higher laws, thus having a risk of illegality."

The city also judged that the ordinance restricting the mayor's right to speak is an excessive abuse of legislative power. Seoul City explained, "Further restricting the speaking rights of executive officials such as the mayor on the grounds of unauthorized speech exceeds the authority granted by law and creates a new check mechanism, violating the Local Autonomy Act, which is a higher law."

Furthermore, Seoul City viewed the provision that orders an apology from executive officials such as the mayor who were expelled for unauthorized speech and allows them to attend the meeting again as highly likely to be unconstitutional. It argued that this infringes on freedoms such as freedom of conscience protected under Article 19 of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, Seoul City added that the Ministry of the Interior and Safety also responded that the 'Council Member Policy Support Officer' part of the ordinance amendment has a risk of violating the 'principle of prohibition of broad delegation' and that this should be reflected in the reconsideration request review.

Seoul City plans to send an official letter requesting reconsideration of the ordinance to the City Council on the 13th or 14th. If the mayor judges that the local council's resolution violates laws or harms public interest, the mayor can request reconsideration within 20 days from the date of receipt of the resolution. Since the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's response also pointed out problems with the ordinance, the City Council must re-deliberate the problematic parts.

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