Relationship between the General Act On Public Administration and the Administrative Procedures Act in the reporting legal system
Authors:   Korean Administrative Law Association, Cho Sung Kyu 
Published: November 2024

Since the law is a compulsory norm for maintaining social order, it must naturally have a normative system consistent with the system of social order. Nevertheless, the legal system for reporting under the current legislation is in such a mess that it is called an abode of demons, and this stems from systematic problems as well as from the content of the reporting law, resulting in a lot of normative confusion not only for the people but also for the administration that applies the law.
Under these circumstances, the enactment of the General Act On Public Administration in March 2021 attempted a legislative solution to the ambiguity of the reporting law, but due to the ambiguity of the identity and discipline of the Framework Act on Administration itself, many questions are already raised about whether the General Act On Public Administration is a “legislative solution” to the normative confusion caused by the distinction between reports. In addition, the current legislative situation, in which the Administrative Procedure Act is repeatedly added to the regulations on the reporting law, is increasingly demanding the need for the improvement of the legal system.
Of course, since legislation recognizes considerable freedom of legislation, the issue of legal reorganization of the relationship between the General Act On Public Administration and the Administrative Procedure Act in the reporting law is not socially and legally easy. In particular, legislative policy requests are bound to intervene strongly in this issue, and in the end, this is not a matter of legal normative a priori logic, but a matter of legislative policy that focuses on the harmony and convergence of various opinions of members of society for the “Optimization Act”. However, in terms of its direction, the legalization of reporting requires sufficient discussion and social consensus to ensure procedural legitimacy from the perspective of the people, not from the perspective of administration.
Given the social function of the law, the law should be “good legislation”. Legislation is a product of a country's diverse history and culture, and the current level of legislation is an important measure of a country's development and competitiveness. From the perspective of good legislation, the General Act On Public Administration and the Administrative Procedure Act need to be integrated. Of course, there is no uniform legally conclusion in that legislative policy discretion is recognized in the specific direction and content of the integration, but the integrated legislation into the Framework Act on Administration seems to be basically a reasonable direction.
It is a well-known fact that there is a lot of criticism about the enactment process and regulations of the General Act On Public Administration, and in this regard, it is true that the current General Act On Public Administration is not the best legislation as “good legislation”. Nevertheless, it is also an undeniable normative meaning that it is the next best choice for general legal calls for an administrative legal system centered on unwritten law. Therefore, it is time for social efforts to ensure that the previously enacted General Act On Public Administration no longer stays in the next best legislation and establishes itself as the best ‘good law’ as soon as possible, and the integration of the reporting law is one step in such efforts.