PSPD in English Socio-Economic 2002-01-31   1806

Legislation Movement for Commercial Building Leasing Law

Legislation Movement for Commercial Building Leasing Law

Progressive Party, Civil Organization, and Commercial Building Lessees Win Precious Success: the Legislation of Commercial Building Leasing Law 

by Ahn Jingol (Coordinator, PSPD)

On December 7, 2001, at 2 o’lock in the afternoon, National Assembly member Song Youngkil explained the agenda item, the ‘Commercial Building Leasing Law.’ The plenary session of the National Assembly approved and passed the bill. This opened a legal way to protect the deposits and contracts of over 4 million merchants who are leasing space in commercial buildings. Compared to the Housing Building Leasing Law, which was legislated back in 1981, this is very belated. Nonetheless, it is delightful to think of the millions of merchants who will be protected by this new law. If it had been a society with decent common sense and reason, however, millions of merchants would not have had to suffer with much material and mental loss and damage!

Activity of the Progressive Party

For the legislation of the Commercial Building Leasing Law, there have been many efforts of many people and organizations. The PSPD, the Korean Council for Lessee Merchants, the National Assembly’s progressive members and their assistants…however if I am asked who has had the leading role, I would say without any hesitation that it is the Democratic Labor Party. Everyone did their best for the legislation, of course. But the Democratic Labor Party put the legislation in their agenda, systematically raised social awareness of the necessity for such law, and perseveringly pushed their plan forward. In 2000, the Party raised public attention and pledged the legislation of the Commercial Building Leasing Law during the presidential election in 1997 and general election in 2000. Due to this, the party won sympathy from the public, and civil organizations evaluated their policy highly.

Role Model for Public Welfare Legislation Campaign

Legislating a new law is much more difficult than amending an existing law. For the legislation of Commercial Building Leasing Law, every possible means was sought multilaterally, complicatedly, and effectively. This will be an appropriate role model for legislation or amendment movements in the future. The persevering coalition activity, campaigns and gatherings, performances and publicizing to raise public awareness, lobbying, appeals, dialogue and discussion, counseling and damage relief projects etc., not to mention petitions and public hearings will be published in our white paper. Our hope is that this is not the end of a movement but a foundation on which many other laws can be newly legislated.

Civil Movement Needs to be Closer to the Commons

Many lessee merchants had consulted with the PSPD regarding their property losses, especially after the national financial crisis back in 1997. On top of that, the Democratic Labor Party’s legislation movement stimulated the PSPD to initiate something. The PSPD and the Democratic Labor Party together built a coalition for legislation of the Commercial Building Leasing Law, and proposed to other organizations to join us. About 40 organizations held a press conference in September 2000, and launched the legislation movement center. The merchants who experienced loss and damages from leased buildings have joined as well, and created a national council to share their difficulties and to support their rights independently. Finally, the legislation movement has gained public attention through the activity of the coalition and national council. Those who have felt a strong need for this kind of law became active for their own rights.

Obstacles in the Reform Legislation Campaign

Creating something out of nothing is a movement. Legislation is creating a law. J. Habermas mentioned that making many good laws is raising social integration. What makes it difficult for legislating law for the commons is that the mind of National Assembly, which is the legislating organization, is different from the commons. In addition, the government hardly meets the urgent need of the commons, though the most effective way to make a law is submission of a government bill. It takes several years to legislate or amend reforming laws for the commons. There are still many laws that have been drifting in the process of legislation, amendments or abolition for years because the National Assembly tends to consider them not their business. Propositions for the abolition of the National Security Law, the Death Penalty, and the gender discriminative Family Law, adoption of Class Action Lawsuit and Independent Council systems, Seasonal Employee Protection Act, are some examples.

Another difficulty lies on the fact that lawmakers are too conservative or lack sincerity. Of course citizens’s public opinion and the activities of civil society are responsible for motivating National Assembly members. Legal professionals, however, in courts, universities, the Department of Justice, and various Legal Expert Committees at National Assembly need to be more active and positive than National Assembly members in criticizing and improving problematic laws and legislating good laws, since they can influence the lawmakers directly and indirectly. Unfortunately this, however, is far from our reality.

Thirdly, for an effective movement for legislation, careful and devoted examination, keen understanding of the system, and professional know-how are essential.

Importance of Persuading National Assembly Members during the Session

The second regular session of the 16th National Assembly opened on September 10, 2001. There were five drafts for the Commercial Building Leasing Bill submitted, but none of them were being discussed. After numerous demonstration and campaigns, perseverant appeals and requests to the National Assembly members, they started to schedule the Commercial Building Leasing Bill into their agenda. We also monitored every single subcommittee examining the bill, and forwarded the monitoring result to the press and National Assembly. The absentee rate has dropped because of our reports, and the committees?discussion became more serious.

During the session, an issue was raised that caused pointless debate between parties. It seemed the Commercial Building Leasing Law was losing its priority in the Assembly. In this process, an incident happened. The PSPD coordinators who went into the National Assembly building for silence protest against the delay of the Assembly in this debate were dragged out of the building by security guards on the excuse that the PSPD was causing trouble. Through the coalition’s unrelenting will, however, at last the National Assembly went back to its job.

The day when the Commercial Building Leasing Bill was scheduled to be part of the agenda for the plenary session, about 50 lessee merchants, workers of the DL Party, and coordinators and members of the PSPD gathered in front of the National Assembly to persuade the National Assembly till the last minute, and to censure the awful Loan Registration and Financial Customer Protection Bill that had passed the day before. It was one after another, the next one being even tougher. Bringing the Exorbitant Tax Restriction Law back became more urgent.

Finally, the news came out that Commercial Building Leasing Law had been legislated. Though the passed bill is not an ideal one, it was a joyful moment. Now, 20 years after the legislation of the Housing Building Leasing Law, lessees of commercial buildings are also protected by this new law. The amendment bill for the Housing Building Lease Law was also passed in this session. Last spring and summer, when many building owners changed their lease from a deposit basis to monthly rent basis, they had caused an inflated high monthly rent. To correct this problem, there needed to be a clause that limits the rate. This as well was possible through the “petition of civil society?proposal by National Assembly members-an amendment campaign of civil social organizations and the people raising public awareness-monitoring the National Assembly and monitoring the legislation for the public’s interests.

Though with this extreme difficulty, the Commercial Building Lease Law to protect lessees was legislated. Civil society will keep its eyes open for the proper implementation of this law. The civil movement needs to direct its attention to the very specific life of the commons, and its activity for the common needs to be responsible to the end. In the future, civil society is to keep doing its best for more laws to improve the specific quality of human life, to protect the life of the socially weak, and ultimately to serve for the freedom of the people.

“Love the people who are suffering in this land, and practice specifically for them! Right Now!!”

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