지방자치 20년을 통한 자치입법권 보장의 평가와 과제

Abstract

Local autonomy in Korea has already passed twenty years which means a full age. This study is on the retrospects of the achievements and conflict problem of the autonomous legislative powers in local autonomy last 20 years. Under the separation of powers principle of modern, administrative power and jurisdiction is to be bound by the legislative power. As a result, the distribution level of legislation powers between State and local government is crucial to grasp a lever of decentralization. Today the local autonomy is substantially realized by legislative autonomy, and the autonomous legislative powers is the core of the local autonomy, enough to say that a narrow definition of local autonomy might be seen as legislation autonomy. However, in spite of the institutional importance of autonomous legislative powers, the realistic situation of the autonomous legislation during the last 20 years or so, is regrettable not extension but its place. It is deemed that the National Assembly, the central legislative body, still holds the initiatives with respect to the legislation of the local self-governing bodies. A local legislature can issue ordinances as its autonomous regulations to improve the welfares of its residents within the boundaries of the existing laws. Our Constitution §117 guarantees local government the right of autonomy including the autonomous legislative powers, namely, the autonomous legislative powers is guaranteed by the Constitution directly. However, it is to be noted that the scope of the autonomous legislative powers of local government has been extremely limited due to the excessive interventions by the central administration. The reason that autonomous legislative powers is not guaranteed substantially can be found in several ways but, above all, the normative characteristic coming from the constitutional guarantees of local autonomy. As a result, it can not deny that the legislators embodies the local self-governing system by the law enjoy a wide range of legislative freedom. As a conclusion, in order to achieve substantial guarantee and continuous extension of the autonomous legislative powers, it is imperative to shift the paradigm for local autonomy in society as a whole, including the legislative areas clarifying the local self-governing system, administrative and judicial authority. The simple proposition that the local autonomy is guaranteed not by the law but by the Constitution directly, need to remember once again.