Standing committee votes to keep N.Nomtoibayar’s immunity

The Standing Committee on Law convened on Tuesday to discuss, among other things, whether to keep N.Nomtoibayar’s parliamentary immunity...

The Standing Committee on Law convened on Tuesday to discuss, among other things, whether to keep N.Nomtoibayar’s parliamentary immunity. The meeting was attending by 13 members of the standing committee, and seven of them decided against stripping N.Nomtoibayar of his immunity while six members voted to remove it.

Last week, the Subcommittee on Parliamentary Immunity decided to remove his parliamentary immunity, commencing a series of meetings that will ultimately end with a final decision by Parliament this week.

Before the closed meeting began, Prosecutor General B.Jargalsaikhan gave a brief statement to the press.

“MP N.Nomtoibayar released specific information about a case during his press conference on December 12. We have submitted a request to remove the Parliament member’s immunity from prosecution to ensure that he does not reveal any more information regarding an ongoing criminal investigation. Nobody in official capacity has declared he is guilty of anything.

This is decided by the court. Documents that can prove or disprove guilt are being compiled at this very moment,” noting that all documents, both for and against N.Nomtoibayar’s guilt are being gathered, adding that the accused has the right and responsibility to gather evidence to disprove accusations.

Before the standing committee went into a closed session, it discussed proposed revisions to the amendments to the Law on Regional Elections. The amendments were previously discussed by the Standing Committee on State Structure (SCSS) as part of the amendment’s first review, and conclusions made by the SCSS were presented by MP S.Byambatsogt.

The amendments was submitted by MPs L.Enkh-Amgalan and J.Ganbaatar on December 3, and Parliament approved to debate them during its December 6 session and transferred the documents to SCSS to prepare for its first review, after which the standing committee discussed the amendments on January 22, 2020. During this meeting, the standing committee agreed that if the law was violated in some way by any party, he or she will be penalized via the Law on Infringements if it is determined that the person will not be punished in accordance with the Criminal Code. But they discovered that there are no clauses in criminal penalties pertaining to this precise problem, and requested the Standing Committee on Law to begin reviewing the Criminal Code and the Law on Infringements to accommodate the Law on Regional Elections.

NEW NATIONAL GEOLOGY DEPARTMENT PROPOSED

During a standing committee meeting on January 28, the SCSS debated the proposed establishment of a National Geology Department. The proposition comes in the form of an amendment to a Cabinet resolution.

The new department will have a status of an implementing agency under the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry. It will be responsible for maintaining records of the entire subsoil of Mongolia by various research methods such as geology, geochemistry and geophysics, regardless of the types of mineral involved. It will also provide all public information available pertaining to its database, excluding classified data.

Currently, these responsibilities are carried out by the Geological Department of at the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Agency (MRPA). The proposed changes will separate this department from the agency, and add the Mineral Database Center and the Geological Survey Center under its jurisdiction, both of which are part of the MRPA at this time.

The standing committee voted to approve this amendment to a Cabinet resolution through its first and only review, and decided to have it debated and approved by Parliament within the week.