Proposal for pilot program for districts to be issued criminal records

The Ministry of Justice has proposed a pilot program in which Justice Departments under the People's Committees of districts in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Nghe An province are authorized to issue criminal record certificates for two years.

The proposal is outlined in the draft resolution of the National Assembly on piloting the decentralization of the issuance of criminal record certificates, which was recently published by the Ministry of Justice.

The agency stated that the 2009 Law on Criminal Records stipulates that the competent authorities for issuing criminal record certificates include the National Criminal Record Center under the Ministry of Justice and the provincial Departments of Justice.

However, the Department of Justice has limited human resources and facilities, and the large volume of applications has led to overload. "At times, people had to queue up very early to submit applications for certificates, causing public dissatisfaction," the Ministry of Justice stated.

People lined up from 4 am at the Hanoi Department of Justice to wait for criminal record verification, April 2023. Photo: Ngoc Thanh — People lined up from 4 am at the Hanoi Department of Justice to wait for criminal record verification, April 2023. Photo: *Ngoc Thanh*

Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Nghe An are the three localities with the highest number of requests for criminal record certificates nationwide. From 2021 to 2023, Hanoi issued an average of over 51,000 certificates annually, Ho Chi Minh City approximately 96,000, and Nghe An 57,000. Currently, the total number of district-level administrative units in these three localities is 73. If the proposal is approved, residents will have an additional 73 locations to register for criminal record certificates.

Therefore, the Ministry of Justice believes that piloting decentralization to district-level administrative units in the three aforementioned localities is necessary, contributing to reducing pressure and creating more convenience for the people. "This is a new initiative, so the Ministry of Justice proposes a pilot program in some district-level units of several provinces and centrally-administered cities," the draft proposal states.

After the pilot program concludes, the Ministry of Justice will summarize and evaluate the implementation and report to the Government and the National Assembly. The results of the pilot program will serve as the basis for studying amendments to the Law on Criminal Records.

A criminal record is a document that proves whether or not an individual has a criminal record. People can go to the Department of Justice to request a certificate or do it online. However, after registering on the National or local Public Service Portal, people still have to send paper documents by post or directly to the competent authority.

Many businesses and organizations have recently abused the requirement of criminal records when recruiting, managing, and employing workers. Some provinces and cities have not promptly resolved the need for confirmation, causing public anger.

The reason is that ministries and branches have not yet reduced regulations requiring the submission of criminal records and have not yet applied information technology to issue them online to people.

Son Ha

Source link