Drafting of The General Administrative Law was started in 2008 but for various reasons the parliament of Mongolia did not adopt the law until June 19, 2015. The law will come into effect starting from July 1, 2016. In the past the Administrative Procedural Law has been the sole authority regarding general administrative issues, and administrative procedural issues. The law is intended to govern the relations of individuals or legal entities with public authorities in their performance of executive powers. A revised version of the Administrative Procedural Law was also adopted and will become effective on the same day.
The newly adopted General Administrative Law improves the law in the following areas:
- The former law listed the agencies and agents whose decisions will be regarded as “Administrative”. This system was not very efficient as the administrative structure in Mongolia changes frequently, the new law removes such lists;
- The new law clarifies the scope of application of the law and specifies where it does not apply;
- The new law defines the rights and obligations of parties clearly more clearly;
- The new law enables government agents or agencies to seek professional expert assistance from each another in a written form. This will improve the communications between governmental agencies;
- The new law introduces a new procedure called “Hearing” which requires the governmental agents and agencies to conduct a hearing to introduce the concept and purpose of a new decision they are intending to adopt and the hear opinion from the affected population. This procedure is mandatory, with some exceptions, however government agencies will though not required to modify their proposed plans to reflect the input received at the hearings;
- The forms of administrative actions are classified as “Administrative Acts”, “Administrative Contracts” and “Administrative Decisions Setting Norms and Standards”. The adoption of either of these different forms requires unique procedures. The law outlines these procedures to reduce ambiguity and confusion. For instance, the former law only regulated procedural issues such as what steps should be taken to annul the wrong decision at the court. The new law governs the process of drafting, introducing and passing the decisions before it reaches the court;
- According to the new law, if an administrative action has become void, the authority that is responsible for wrongful decision shall be punished. The possible punishments include a warning, a decrease of salary for responsible individuals, dismissal, and dismissal with a prohibition on return to public service for 1-10 years.
Some are concerned that with the implementation of the new General Administrative Law, the public service will become more bureaucratic. Let us remain optimistic that after successful implementation, administrative obstructions will be reduced and implementation of effective Administrative actions will be made easier.