법제처 로고

Statutory interpretation for improve quality of residential environment

There are so many television shows about houses these days. That’s because a lot of people consider the place they reside in an integral part of life. For this reason, more people are having an interest in urban redevelopment and housing reconstruction and the government is constantly endeavoring to improve the quality of residential environment. The Act on the Improvement of Urban Areas and Residential Environments is a product of such efforts and prescribes matters related to redevelopment and reconstruction to improve residential environments and dilapidated structures.

As redevelopment and reconstruction are implemented in areas where a large number of people live, a conflict of interests emerges. And they require complicated procedures and it takes a lot of time to complete them. Due to the complex legal relation, a dispute arises frequently. You might think the disputes can be simply resolved by laws. However, laws cannot regulate all matters and some problems cannot be addressed by laws alone. That’s why the role of administrative agencies that implement and manage laws matters.

What should administrative agencies do if they find it difficult to discern the meaning of a statute and to implement it? The Ministry of Government Legislation (MOLEG) determines the meanings of laws through its statutory interpretation system when an administrative agency has a question on the meaning of a statute. Even though courts have authority over the final interpretation, not all matters can be resolved through litigation and the process takes a long time. Therefore, MOLEG presents standards for implementation of statutes.

Recently, MOLEG determined the meaning of a statutory provision on the matter that is not clearly stipulated in the Act on the Improvement of Urban Areas and Residential Environments. The “president of an association” is only stated as a person who has the right to convene a general meeting of a redevelopment association in the law. The question is about whether the “person who acts on behalf of the president of an association” can convene a general meeting when the president of an association is suspended from his or her duties. MOLEG proactively interpreted that a general meeting can be convened in this case. That’s because the acting president is not prohibited from convening a general meeting according to relevant statutes. And if we do nothing about the delay in convening a general meeting, it could cause inconvenience to the public. MOLEG concluded that the acting president can convene a general meeting if relevant matters are stipulated by the articles of association.

There is a case where we interpreted that an unnecessary procedure can be omitted. When a redevelopment project is conducted, interested parties such as an owner of a plot of land or structure can have access to related documents for inspection and present a written opinion. However, a question arose as to whether when there is only one person who owns a plot of land or structure, the procedure should be performed or not. MOLEG interpreted that the procedure need not be conducted. When a redevelopment project is implemented by one person who owns a plot of land or structure, the public announcement of building sites can be omitted according to the law and it is unreasonable to carry out an unnecessary procedure.

Let me give you one more example of a proactive interpretation. A redevelopment project is planned to be implemented by an association, but a committee for establishment of an association fails to apply for authorization to establish an association within a certain period of time. In this case, the authority to designate improvement zones must revoke its designation according to the law. The question is about whether the designation of an improvement zone should be canceled because of no application for authorization in cases where a project implemented by an association is postponed and interested parties such as an owner of a plot of land or structure intend to conduct a project by designating a trust company as a project implementer without establishing an association. MOLEG interpreted that the designation of an improvement zone is not necessarily canceled. That’s because after an improvement zone is designated, another project implementer can be chosen. And if an owner of a plot of land or structure has a firm intention of carrying out a redevelopment project, an improvement project will be undertaken again even though the designation of an improvement zone is revoked. I hope MOLEG’s proactive interpretation could help expedite the implementation of a redevelopment project.

Administrative laws are intertwined with other laws and amendment is frequently made. Therefore, there are a lot of cases where those who implement the laws have to unlock meaning. When interpreting the meaning of a statute, MOLEG will strive to clarify the standards for implementing laws and to proactively interpret them to protect the rights and interests of the public. I hope our endeavors to interpret a statute in a clear and unified way would contribute to smoothly carrying out government policies necessary for the people.