In March last year, the National Assembly passed a drastic bill aimed at rooting out corruption among public officials. The bill was considered so draconian that lawmakers delayed its implementation to September this year to give people enough time to prepare for it.

The legislation, commonly called the Kim Young-ran Act, is basically intended to plug a big loophole in existing laws. Currently, it is difficult to punish public officials who have received large amounts of money from businessmen if there is no evidence that they took the money in return for favors.

Under the new legislation, government officials -- journalists and private school faculty as well -- could face up to three years in prison or fines of up to five times the amounts accepted if they are found to have received at least 1 million won ($856) from a person, whether it was in return for favors or not.

As the new law is expected to have far-reaching impact not only on officialdom but the nation as a whole, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission has been careful in making preparations for its implementation.

On Monday, the commission disclosed a draft of the enforcement decree of the new law, which set the ceilings for meals, gifts, condolence money and lecture fees that those subject to the legislation can safely take.

Under the decree, for instance, public officials, journalists and private school teachers would be fined when they are treated to meals that cost more than 30,000 won. The decree also sets the ceilings for gifts at 50,000 won and for condolence money at 100,000 won.

The commission plans to collect public comments on the draft by June 22 and finalize it by August.

Yet the enforcement decree may have to be revised before going into effect, as the Constitutional Court is set to hand down its verdict on the constitutionality of the parent law.

The Korean Bar Association has brought the Kim Young-ran law before the court, arguing that the inclusion of journalists among those subject to it could be a violation of freedom of the press and people’s rights for equality.

If the court finds the law unconstitutional, lawmakers have to rewrite it. The court said it would reach a conclusion before the legislation goes into effect. Yet to avoid confusion, the court needs to render a verdict as early as possible.

The whole problem stemmed from lawmakers’ arbitrary use of their legislative power. The original bill proposed by Kim Young-ran, former Supreme Court justice who previously headed the anticorruption panel, only targeted public officials, including lawmakers.

But legislators excluded themselves while including journalists and private school teachers, in a self-serving and brazen abuse of their legislative power. With the curtain falling on the 19th National Assembly on May 30, lawmakers still have time to correct the wrong they have committed.