Improving Implementation of Laws (MN0052)

Statement of public problem Although the legislation including the Law on Public Hearing, General Administrative Law and the Law on Legislation provide for the responsibility of public institutions to base their decision-making on consultations and consensus with citizens especially those whose interests are to be directly impacted, administrative decisions are still being taken in a manner shunning the legally prescribed duty to ensure their quality through participatory consultative processes. This results in damages to people’s mental and physical life, property and general well-being as well as in breaches of democratic governance values. The Waste Management Law introduces a new management approach but its weak implementation violates the right of urban residents to life in a healthy and safe environment.

Commitment definition. Align the General Administrative Law (GAL) with the Constitution and the Law on Administrative and Territorial Division of Mongolia to protect the right of the Governor to veto a decision passed by the local assembly. The exercise of this right is contravened by a provision in the GAL which stipulates that a normative act issued by a local assembly be reviewed and submitted to the registration authority in the same period of time as set for normative acts of other entities. This conflict arising from an inappropriate timeframe needs to be resolved and accountability for breach of law enhanced.

Contribution to addressing public problem 1. Elimination of duplication, gaps and conflicts between the General Administrative Law and other related laws will contribute to consistent Interpretation and implementation of the legislation. 2. Evaluation of the Law on Public Hearing is expected to improve legal guarantees of the right to access to information and participation of relevant populaton groups, communities and public at large in all stages of policy planning and decision-making. 3. Evaluation and strengthened monitoring of the Waste Management Law will contribute to reducing air, water and soil pollution in settlements for the bebefit of the residents’ right to live in healthy and safe environments.

Relevance to OGP values • Transparency The commitment positively contributes to the policy objective of making government responsive, open and accountable to the people, and to better guarantees of the right of individuals and organizations to file complaints and seek their prompt resolution. • Public participation The commitment will result in the elucidation of the concepts of a request and a complaint,and streamline the request and complaint management procedures for the benefit of the public. • Government accountability The elimination of duplications and gaps in related laws will result in smoother and speedier processing and clearance of requests and complaints filed by individuals and legal entities.

Additional information Goal Five of the “Vision 2050” Long-Term Development Policy of Mongolia, ratified by Parliament Resolution 52 of 2020, states: “Build a country that is free of corruption and upholds integrity, justice and human rights by developing a human development-oriented smart and stable governance, establishing optimally structured public administration and civil sevice, introducing a digitalized citizen-centered public service delivery, and expanding government-private sector-civil society partnerships in all spheres of life.”

Target defintion The processes and effects of the Law on Public Hearing, General Administrative Law, Law on the Management of Requests and Complaints Filed by Citizens with Public Institutions or Officials and Waste Management Law will be evaluated, results communicated to government and other parties concerned, and a recommendations implementation plan formulated.

Follow-up actions Public information and communication activities to promote the revised legislation

Milestones Start date: End date: Independent evaluation of the General Administrative Law implementation 2022.01.25 2022.03.25 Assessment of the implementation f the Law on Public Hearing, pursuant to the Law on Legislation 2022.01.25 2022.03.25 Assessment of the implementatation of the Waste Management Law, pursuant to the Law on Legislation. 2022.01.25 2022.03.25 Findings of the above legal reviews presented to the public and decision-makers, a follow-up action plan developed 2022.03.25 2022.05.30 Amendments to the General Administrative Law drafted 2022.04.25 2022.05.25 Amendments to the General Administrative Law submitted for Government review and clearance 2022.05.25 2022.06.01 Amendments to the General Administrative Law submitted to the Parliament 2022.06.05 2022.07.25 Public information and communication campaign on the new legislation 2023.04.01 2023.06.30

Action Plan Review

Commitment 5. Public Participation on the Law on Public Hearing, the General Administrative Law, the Law on Legislation, and the Waste Management Law

Results Report

Commitment 5. Public participation on the implementation of Laws on Public Hearing, General Administration, Legislation, and Waste Management

This commitment aimed to improve the implementation of the Laws on Public Hearing, General Administration, Legislation, and Waste Management. For each law, the commitment planned to involve the public in evaluating implementation to inform proposals for amendment. Parliament passed amendments to the Laws on Public Hearing and General Administration, respectively, on 24 December 2021 [50] (a week before the action plan’s submission) and 23 December 2022. [51] However, there was no evidence of public participation in either drafting process. [52] No progress was made on the Waste Management Law by the end of the implementation period. Overall, this commitment did not produce early results in engaging public participation in the evaluation of its laws—which was the main objective of the commitment and not the passing of the aforementioned laws. Early results generated following the amendments to the Law on Public Hearing itself are assessed under Commitment 2 (See Section II).