법치주의와 조화로운 자치재정권 확대

Abstract

Since the revival of the local autonomy system in 1995, decentralization of local autonomy has emerged as a major national task in almost all governments, and many discussions have been made on it. As the Decentralization Act defines decentralization of local autonomy and emphasizes the importance of local finance in local autonomy, the autonomy and finance of local governments is essential to complete autonomy and decentralization. Just as it is difficult to conclude that the right to self-government is clearly recognized by the current constitutional provisions, the legal guarantee for self-government and finance is not very high compared to the number of articles in the law. In particular, it may be close to impossible to increase the sovereignty of taxation within the limits of the ideology of the rule of law. The local financial system in Korea was prepared and operated for convenience in administrative management, but since the era of democratization, it has developed in the direction of promoting fiscal soundness while reflecting many factors of autonomy. Since 2005, it has been organized to some extent in the form of ‘Revenue Authority - Appropriation Authority’. However, in the legal system, the link between the Local Autonomy Act and the Local Finance Act is loose, and there are many overlapping articles, so the hierarchy of laws is not established. The general legal nature of the Local Finance Act is also somewhat skeptical. Individual laws can be evaluated without encompassing them. This is especially true when it comes to grants and subsidies. The need to strengthen fiscal decentralization is becoming more and more urgent, but the first thing to do is to face the barrier of tax legalism. Even taking into account the recognition of the ordinance enactment and the flexible tax rate, it is difficult to see it as a practical autonomy. Coexistence can be promoted through active interpretation in the current constitutional system, but there are essential limitations. With reference to extra-legislative tax under the Japanese constitution, autonomous finance under the French constitution, and the distribution of legislative power under the German constitution, the Korean constitution also requires a bold decision to recognize tax autonomy and autonomous finance. In addition to taxation, the scope of ordinance enactment rights on non-tax income such as fines for negligence is also a task that needs to be continuously reviewed in relation to the expansion of autonomous legislative power. We need to focus our attention and efforts so that the noble values of the democratic constitution, the ideology of the rule of law, and the vocation of the times, the decentralization of autonomy, do not collide and harmonize.