During its plenary session on January 15, Parliament ratified the revision of the Law on Courts of Mongolia.
In connection with the adoption of the law, Speaker of Parliament G.Zandanshatar commented, “The legal environment for reviving the Constitution and ensuring a fair trial has been provided. The law provides for the prevention of torture and ill-treatment. Judges of the Supreme Court, the Judiciary General Council (JGC) and the Disciplinary Committee shall be selected in a transparent manner.”
“In addition to the professional examination, judges will undergo a behavioral examination. Judges will have ethical and legal responsibilities. The participation of all levels of the judiciary, judges, and everyone is important in the implementation of the Law on Courts,” he added.
On the same day, some lawmakers reported on the revised Law on Courts of Mongolia.
In particular, Head of the working group B.Enkhbayar said, “The reform of this law is considered a revolution of justice. But this is just the beginning. Whether a good law is resurrected now depends on the people. In particular, it depends heavily on the more than 500 judges exercising judicial power in Mongolia.”
“There will be many obstacles in the way of law enforcement. It will affect the interests of many people. We know that these people will continue to deny and suppress the principles of this law in various ways. Parliament has the legal power to overcome these people, and to be a fair leader.”
Noting that the law increases the responsibility of judges and includes more than 40 violations that are prohibited for judges, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Justice S.Byambatsogt said, “There will be an independent Disciplinary Committee to
hold unethical judges accountable. The law sets out the organization, composition, appointment procedures and requirements of the JGC, which is responsible for protecting judges. The requirements for members of the JGC will also increase.
The law states that all court decisions should be reasonable and transparent. I warn judges not to make bad mistakes that kill good laws. The judiciary must be the real embodiment of the will of the people.”
GUIDELINES FOR IMPROVING LEGISLATION
During the session, Parliament discussed the draft parliamentary resolution on approval of guidelines for improving legislations of Mongolia through 2024.
Lawmaker B.Purevdorj said, “There are 10 bills that I have submitted and initiated. It is difficult for the opposition to keep all these laws alone. So I think it is right to submit these laws together with certain people. For example, I think that the bill on VAT should be submitted together with lawmaker J.Ganbaatar and discussed with the ruling party and some members.”
Emphasizing that the opposition should be actively involved in the working group to draft bills, independent lawmaker N.Altankhuyag said, “Even if the opposition submits a bill together with a member of the ruling party, it will not be very effective. Therefore, I think it would be more effective to conjoin the working group.”
During the session, the Democratic Party caucus in Parliament requested a three-day adjournment of the discussion of the draft revision of the Law on Labor.
Chairman of the caucus D.Ganbat said that the law was amended to cover 50 to 80 percent of the original version and the caucus needs to obtain information from the government.
In addition, the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) caucus in Parliament requested a three-day break to discuss the bill on museums. Chairman of the MPP Caucus D.Togtokhsuren noted that the bill needed to be re-discussed at the caucus meeting.
At the end of the session, Speaker of Parliament G.Zandanshatar accepted their requests.
