Asia united in laws and systems

Lee Wan-kyu

The author is the minister of government legislation.

In the post Covid-19 era, cooperative activities that were frozen by Covid-19 are blooming. As of July 2022, when the fever of the pandemic was abated, the number of departures increased by 263.7 percent and the number of arrivals increased by 113.5 percent on-year. The Ministry of Government Legislation has taken advantage of this opportunity to revitalize cooperation in the field of legislation. We signed the Action Plan for Legislative Cooperation with Indonesia through mutual visits at the end of last year. Several countries, including Uzbekistan, Cambodia, Thailand and Mongolia, visited our Ministry this year. We visited the legislative organizations of the United States and further strengthened the diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Amid these changes, the “Asian Legislative Experts Symposium (ALES)” will be held on Oct. 27 in Seoul. In line with the mitigation of the pandemic, legislative experts from across Asia will meet face-to-face and have in-depth discussions on legislative administration. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, ALES will be held under the theme of “Asia United in Laws and Systems, Legislative Exchange and Cooperation for Mutual Development” and become a venue to enhance legislative cooperation among Asian countries based on our experience from the past decade.

Until now, legislative cooperation in the Asian region has mainly been bilateral. The Ministry of Government Legislation has also been focusing on cooperation with specific countries through bilateral memoranda of understanding (MOU) and action plans. For example, since signing an MOU with the Cabinet Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia in 2018, we have established close relations by signing an action plan and by conducting an invitational training program. However, while these activities are helpful for bilateral cooperation, they are limited in pursuing the mutual development of the Asian region from a long-term perspective.

At the 11th ALES, we will discuss ways to establish a multilateral body where Asian legislative organizations can exchange and cooperate on a regular and stable basis. The establishment of the “Consultative Group of Asian Legislative Bodies” (tentative) is one such example. As a first step, legislative experts from Asian countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, and Laos will talk about measures to turn bilateral cooperation into multilateral settings.

We can envision the following blueprint for the consultative group. First, joint research on future laws and systems can be carried out. With the development of digital technology, the interest of the legislation field in new areas such as generative AI, legal tech, and digital taxation has increased. We can discuss how to innovate regulations without hindering the development of new technologies. We are also looking forward to the development of legislative administration in Asia. Issues such as how to increase public participation in the process of enacting and amending laws and regulations and how to reflect the opinions of the executive branch in parliamentary bills are common concerns among Asian countries. The win-win development of Asian legislative organizations will be promoted by sharing methodologies for statutory interpretation and examination and skills for building and maintaining advanced legal information systems.

There is an African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” It means that you can accomplish something by yourself, but if you want to accomplish something bigger, you need to work together. Laws and systems are no different. The laws and systems setting the right direction are needed for social and economic development. If the legislative organizations of Asian countries go hand-in-hand and build constant teamwork, they can become mutual partners in the long journey to establishing the rule of law and economic growth. We hope that the 11th ALES will provide a meaningful opportunity for an “Asia united in laws and systems.”