제주특별자치도의 주민자치강화에 관한 법적 쟁점과 과제

Abstract

This thesis discusses a tentative plan that has reviewed the legal issue and the problems involved in reinforcing the citizen autonomy as an alternative to the direct election system for the mayor and to an occurrence of being incapable of forming the local council, which was presented as an improvement proposition for the current administrative system of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province. With respect to the reinforcement of resident participation the first thing to be considered is how to utilize the existing participation of residents system stipulated in the current Local Autonomy Act. In other words, it is a question of granting an exception to the existing participation of residents system for the case of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, so that a new, flexible system can e created. In particular if the current administrative system is revised to accommodate the direct election system for the mayor, it should be properly considered how the participation of residents system provided in the Local Autonomy Act is reflected into the new administrative system. This thesis reviewed the participation of residents system provided in the Local Autonomy Act and that based on the Local Community Center Committee. In my opinion, it may be possible to check the mayor so that he or she will not abuse their power, provided that a referendum, the residents’ recall system and the budgetary system allowing the residents’ monitoring are properly utilized. In addition the current discussion of revising the administrative system will offer a golden opportunity to test the usefulness and the types of the participation of residents system uniquely applied to Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, though the task still remains to institutionalize such a system. Once the participation of residents system has been successfully implemented in Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, it will surely be recorded as a monumental event in the history of the Local Autonomy Act, serving as a turing point for spreading it to other local governments. However, the focus of future discussion should be directed to a relationship to be established between the current legal system and the residents participation which is to be newly introduced, and to the legal status of the local community center committee and the organization of its members. Since such a discussion will not bear fruitful results without active participation of the residents, ways of encouraging Jeju residents’ participation in the course of institutionalizing such a system must be actively sought. The author of this thesis believes that the participation of residents system is designed not only to complement the representative system but also to perform the political and administrative functions for the embodiment of the constitutional rights upholding the principles of the popular sovereignty and the sovereignty resting with the people. Moreover, if the local assembly men and the heads of a self-governing body is incapable of performing their parts effectively, the functional roles of the participation of residents system are likely to get weightier. For this reason, it may be safe to say that utilizing the participation of residents system and the local community center committee is a wise way to put democracy to good use and to make up for the weak points of the modern representative system. There are still arguments for and against the administrative system of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province. In view of the fact that the new system has been implemented for less than 10 years, it seems too early to have such pros and cons, and everyone involved in this matter is urged to reflect on his or her view. For this reason, if the new administrative system for Jeju Special Self-Governing Province is to be successfully introduced, it should be the kind designed for the future of prospering Jeju for 100 years to come.