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Experts discuss measures to develop legislative administration of Asian nations
Minister of Government Legislation Lee Kang-seop, sixth from left, poses with other participants during the Asian Legislative Experts Symposium hosted by the ministry at JW Marriott Hotel Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Government Legislation
By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
Legal officials and scholars from six Asian countries, including Korea and Vietnam, discussed measures, Wednesday, to enhance exchanges and cooperation between Asian nations for the development of their legislative administration systems.
The discussions were carried out at the 9th Asian Legislative Experts Symposium (ALES), hosted by the Ministry of Government Legislation, in Seoul.
This year's event, which took place under the theme of “Legislative Administration of Each Asian Country and Cooperation Measures,” was held both online and offline with a limited number of in-person participants, considering the difficulties facing overseas speakers and participants to attend the event in person amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
The event was livestreamed through YouTube.
“Legislation is the process of making a bowl to hold national policies and of making a fence around the society at large. Economic growth and social development of each country have been ensured based on legislation that is an institutional framework,” Minister of Government Legislation Lee Kang-seop said in his opening speech. “If Asian countries share information and opinions together, we can establish better laws and systems.”
Minister of Government Legislation Lee Kang-seop delivers his opening speech during the Asian Legislative Experts Symposium hosted by the ministry at JW Marriott Hotel Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Government Legislation
Minister of Justice of Vietnam Le Thanh Long, who gave his congratulatory speech through video, said the knowledge and experiences shared and exchanged at the event will serve as a very useful resource for many Asian countries.
“At the same time, I also hope that this conference will open up a channel for cooperation between countries in the field of legislative management and law-making in the coming years, contributing to the development of a stable, rules-based and flexible legislative process to deal with unexpected situations that emerge in practice, especially in the context of required responsiveness and effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
Ko Hak-soo, a professor at Seoul National University's School of Law, delivered the keynote speech, introducing the laws and systems of Korea and other Asian countries on data protection and artificial intelligence (AI).
“Relevant discussions have been taking place around the world in recent years. Between 2016 and 2019, the broad principles on AI ethics have been suggested, while discussions on specific ways to implement them began to emerge last year,” Ko said.
Emphasizing the need for improving laws and systems in preparation for the future, he noted, “Europe has appeared to lead the discussions, with the European Commission having proposed a legal framework on AI in April this year. Several Asian countries including Thailand have been joining the move. I hope these efforts will continue to be stepped up further.”
In the first session of the symposium, the General Act on Public Administration of Korea and its legal information system were shared, with Kardwiyana Ukar, who heads the bureau of government internal affairs at the Secretariat Cabinet of Indonesia, and Nguyen Hong Tuyen, director general of general affairs on legislative development at the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam, introducing legal systems and legislative procedures of their countries.
In the second session, speakers including Phalthy Hap, director of the graduate program at the Royal University of Law and Economics of Cambodia, gave presentations and discussed cooperation measures for the development of legislative administration systems of Asian countries.
The ministry has held the ALES every year since 2013 to discuss legislative solutions to various issues such as information and communications, urban development, transportation, safety management, administrative procedures and prevention of infectious diseases, in a bid to promote mutual development of Asian countries.
The ministry said it will continue working to deal with shared matters of interest for Asian countries.