[Inside Chodong] Making More Laws Is Not Always Better

An Unprecedented Number of Bill Proposals
The Perception of Bill Count as an Achievement Must Change
Subcommittee Activities, the Core of Legislative Review, Need Proper Evaluation

As the National Assembly remains deadlocked over the issue of organizing its members, the number of bills submitted by lawmakers has begun to pile up. Two weeks after the Assembly convened, 406 bills have already been submitted. Named as 'Bill No. 1' by each lawmaker and hastily proposed, what fate will these bills face?

In the previous National Assembly, lawmakers proposed 23,665 bills, the government submitted 831, and 1,372 alternative proposals were made by committee chairpersons, totaling 25,858 bills. Among these, 16,494 were discarded due to the expiration of the term, and a significant number never even underwent committee review. While political reasons and the infrequent convening of committees contributed to this, another reason is the sheer volume of bills proposed. In fact, South Korea has an unusually high number of bill proposals compared to other countries. It is rare in advanced democracies for 300 lawmakers to propose an average of about 20 bills per year. How should we understand this 'diligence' of the lawmakers?

Underlying this is the perception that proposing many bills is an 'achievement.' Since political parties that decide nominations for the next election and civic groups that evaluate legislative activities measure lawmakers' legislative achievements by the number of bills proposed, lawmakers inevitably become obsessed with increasing the number of proposals. As a result, even if a bill is proposed to remove a certain regulation and another bill is later proposed to reinstate it, each counts as an achievement. Given this situation, the quality of legislation becomes a secondary concern. It is like studying only to solve problems according to the test format, neglecting the understanding of principles.

Is producing many laws a good thing? Since lawmakers are not idle, the general evaluation might not be negative. However, looking at the actual legislative environment, it cannot be said to be entirely positive. According to the National Law Information Center, there are currently 1,631 laws in South Korea, including the Civil Act, Commercial Act, and Criminal Act. Instead of systematic legal reform, the excessive proliferation of bills through special laws and partial amendments has resulted in a patchwork situation. The more laws there are, the more power lawyers and the executive branch gain. The more complex and difficult the laws are, the more authority lawyers and the executive branch have in interpreting and applying them.

When the 21st National Assembly was concluding, I had a conversation with a lawmaker who was leaving the Assembly. This lawmaker emphasized, "Making laws does not only mean actively creating laws but also includes preventing bad laws from being made." Just as a garden overrun with weeds is not considered a good garden, a legislative environment that prevents bad laws is necessary, but our National Assembly only produces bills without fulfilling this role.

What needs to change? First, the perception that the number of bills proposed is an achievement must change. Above all, good laws should be met with positive evaluations. Additionally, reflecting the time spent in subcommittees, which are the actual venues for substantive bill review, in the evaluation of legislative activities would be a good approach. Currently, attendance at standing committees or plenary sessions can be checked through National Assembly reports, but subcommittees are not properly evaluated. Because of this, some lawmakers attend all plenary sessions but rarely appear in subcommittees. The number of lawmakers participating in subcommittees and the depth of discussions can serve as criteria to improve the quality of legislative review. If the time spent in subcommittees becomes a standard for evaluating legislative activities, lawmakers will frequently convene subcommittees and engage in discussions over bills without exception.

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