One of the new drafts scheduled to be considered by Parliament during its next session later this year is a new Law on Investigating Infringement.
Currently in Mongolia, regulatory infringements are addressed by a range of different laws, each addressing specific subject matter. These laws range from the Customs law, Taxation laws, Competition law, Mineral law, Law on State inspection and supervision. In the current state of things, there are several overlapping areas of regulation, sometimes resulting on conflicting provisions. There are also gaps where specific sectors are without relevant regulations. The different laws also treat procedures and process of investigations of infringements differently, which as resulted in concerns about whether constitutional rights are appropriately upheld in each case. The new draft law to be discussed will be designed to cure such faults by protecting individual rights which establishing a uniform standard of official process and powers when resolving suspected regulatory infringements.
The draft to be proposed differentiates regulatory infringement from criminal offences and will adopt a systematic approach to unifying over 230 laws which pertain to various types of regulatory infringement.
Currently the various laws grant 26 different classes of official, ranging from police officer, to tax inspectors, state inspectors, prosecutors and others) ability to investigate suspected infringement and impose penalties. This new law will consolidate those procedures seek to apply uniform procedures.
Under the draft to be proposed all procedures for resolving infringements should take up to 30 days. Up to two extensions of 15 days each will be available if authorized by higher office where additional investigative measures are required.
Individuals or organizations which are the subject of a decision following the investigation of an infringement will be obligated to comply with the terms of the decision within 14 days. In the event there is no compliance, the official Court enforcement agency will have responsibility to enforce the decision.
Individuals or organizations challenging the results of an investigator may appeal the final decision to the prosecutor’s office, and will also have the opportunity to appeal the decision of the prosecutor to a court.