Legal systems are going online, ALES meeting learns

Social Affairs

Published: 29 Sep. 2022, 17:42 Updated: 29 Sep. 2022, 20:47

Legal systems are going online, ALES meeting learns

Government Legislation Minister Lee Wan-kyu, fifth from left in front row, and attendees of the 10th Asian Legislative Experts Symposium gather onstage for a commemorative photo at the Fairmont Ambassador Seoul in western Seoul on Thursday. [MINISTRY OF GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION]

Legislative experts from Korea and other Asian countries gathered both virtually and in-person Thursday at an annual law forum hosted in Seoul to discuss the digitalization of legal systems.

The 10th Asian Legislative Experts Symposium (ALES), co-hosted by the Ministry of Government Legislation and the Korea Legislation Research Institute, was held online and offline at the Fairmont Ambassador Seoul in western Seoul under the theme of “Digital Era - Legal Information System of Each Asian Country and Development Measures.”

In this year’s symposium, experts from seven Asian countries — Taiwan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Korea — that are beginning to operate digital legislative information systems were invited to explain them.

“The Ministry of Government Legislation has undertaken an establishment project of ‘intelligent platform for legal information service’ to provide easier access to the legal information people are curious about and to support the development of a new industry of legal tech by using artificial intelligence [AI] and big data technologies,” Government Legislation Minister Lee Wan-kyu said in opening remarks.

Lee introduced the ministry's Government Legislation Support System, which shows online how laws are created, and can be accessed by anyone.

“Legal information has been the exclusive preserve of governments and legal experts for a long time,” Lee said.

“However,” he continued, “a legal information system of each Asian country established by using digital technologies [...] enhances the transparency of national policies. As such, a legal information system in the digital era facilitates a country’s innovation and the development of democracy.”

“Indonesia is the country that has the highest potential as a digital market among Southeast Asian countries,” Edward O.S. Hiariej, Vice Minister of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia, said in a speech.

Divided into two sessions, the forum first examined the digital legislation systems established in Asian countries.

Officials from the Government Legislation Ministry introduced the best practices of Korea’s legal information system such as the Legislation Support System.

Jung Syung-taek, deputy director at the ministry’s legislative information division, illustrated the Government Legislation Support System, Law Editor and Public Participation Legislation Center.

The Government Legislation Support System is an online platform showing the drafting and examination of bills, pre-announcement of legislation, and promulgation.

“The system ensures users can easily search for law information, guaranteeing the public’s right to know,” Jung said. “And the system enables people to conveniently process any law-related businesses online, which streamlines the government legislative process and expands communication with the public.”

Son Mun-su, head of the ministry’s plain law division, presented the Government Legislation Ministry’s project to provide "Plain Law" to the public. It is a service by the ministry's National Law Information Center that explains laws closely connected to people's lives with illustrations and photos.

“The visual content is helpful for understanding laws,” Son said. “We will continue to update the system, as well as expand the scope of laws in the system.”

Officials from Thailand and Taiwan described the digitalization of their legislation systems.

In the second session, experts in digital legislation discussed cooperation between Korea and other Asian countries.

Since 2013, the Ministry of Government Legislation has hosted ALES every year. Like last year, the 10th ALES was held with limited in-person attendance due to the ongoing pandemic and it was broadcast live via the ministry's YouTube channel.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]