Consideration on the Direction of Enactment of the Local Council Act

Abstract

Purpose: Local autonomy was revived in 1991, and 30 years later, local councils have made a lot of progress. However, local residents' trust in local councils is not at a satisfactory level. In particular, on January 13, 2022, the entire「Local Autonomy Act」was amended to strengthen the autonomy of residents and local governments, and to secure transparency and accountability. It can be said that it is necessary to enact a local council law that can increase.
 Method: Comparison and analysis of the 'Local Council Act' proposed by Jeon Hyun-hee, former member of the 20th National Assembly in February 2018 and Lee Hae-sik, a member of the National Assembly in November 2020, which is the most representative proposal among local council laws, and refer to the Local Autonomy Act and the National Assembly Act to determine the direction of local assembly law wanted to make a suggestion.
 Results: The role of local councils is becoming more important to respond to the changing social structure and solve local problems. Therefore, it is necessary to activate local legislative activities to fulfill practical authority and roles. In other words, the direction of enactment of the Local Council Act should ensure the autonomy of the local council while at the same time strengthening its responsibility(professionalism). Therefore, it is required to secure transparency and reliability in the legislative activities of local councils and local councilors in parallel with the expansion of the authority of local councils.
 Conclusion: As matters to be considered in enacting the Local Assembly Act, first, the practical benefits of enacting the Local Assembly Act should be fully considered. If the authority and independence of the local council can be strengthened and established by supplementing the current Local Autonomy Act, the need for enactment of the Local Council Act is low. Second, the direction of strengthening the responsibility and autonomy of local councils so that the enactment of the Local Council Act can solve problems in the local community with the strengthened authority and status of the local council, improve the quality of life of local residents, and activate grassroots democracy. should be enacted as.