Pilot program for People's Procuracy to initiate civil lawsuits from January 1, 2026

Presenting the Verification Report, Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee Hoang Thanh Tung said that the Committee agreed with the scope of pilot implementation of the Decree in 6 provinces and centrally-run cities with the following scope after implementing the arrangement and merger of a number of provincial-level administrative units. Accordingly, the Resolution takes effect from January 1, 2026 and the pilot implementation period of 3 years is appropriate.

In addition, the Committee on Law and Justice found that some contents of the draft resolution are unclear, lack specificity or have different opinions that need to be further reviewed, revised, supplemented and clarified by the drafting agency.

Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee Hoang Thanh Tung. (Photo: National Assembly Media)

In particular, the Regulation on the scope of regulation for vulnerable groups at Point e, Clause 2, Article 3 of the draft Resolution is "Ethnic minorities living in areas with difficult socio -economic conditions as prescribed by law" is too broad, not ensuring consistency in legal support policies for the same subjects as prescribed in the Law on Legal Aid; the regulation on public interests including "public assets, public investment" at Point a and "land", "other resources" at Point b, Clause 3, Article 3 of the draft Resolution is still general, not really clear about the direct public interests that need to be protected in public interest civil cases, easily leading to inconsistent understanding and application.

Regarding cases where the People's Procuracy initiates lawsuits, the pilot assignment of the People's Procuracy to initiate civil public interest lawsuits aims to create a mechanism to effectively protect the interests of the State, public interests, and the legitimate rights and interests of vulnerable groups. However, to avoid the situation of "civilizing" criminal and administrative relations, it is recommended that the drafting agency supplement the principles; continue to review and classify acts before initiating a lawsuit; and at the same time clarify the basis, conditions and scope of the People's Procuracy's lawsuit to avoid abuse of power or excessive interference in the activities of other agencies and organizations.

According to the Committee on Law and Justice, in order to avoid the situation of "civilizing" criminal and administrative relations as mentioned above and to properly resolve cases and incidents, to best protect the interests of the State, public interests, and the legitimate rights and interests of vulnerable groups, it is necessary to stipulate that the People's Procuracy clarify violations through inspection and verification activities to handle them in accordance with the provisions of law. In addition, there are opinions suggesting more specific regulations on the order and procedures for the People's Procuracy to receive information about cases with signs of violating the civil rights of vulnerable groups or public interests to ensure the feasibility of the Resolution.

"Regarding the duties and powers of the People's Procuracy and the measures for inspection, verification, collection of information, documents and evidence, the majority of opinions in the Law and Justice Committee believe that, in order to be consistent with the objectives and requirements of the pilot, the authority should only be assigned to the People's Procuracy to initiate civil public interest lawsuits (specific plaintiffs) and the litigation process should comply with the order and procedures prescribed by the Civil Procedure Code (CPC). In addition, there are opinions that it is necessary to consider stipulating a number of appropriate authorities for the People's Procuracy when inspecting, verifying and collecting documents and evidence to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the litigation process," said Mr. Hoang Thanh Tung.

Regarding the principles of conducting mediation, Mr. Tung said that, according to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code and the Law on Mediation and Dialogue at Court, mediation is not conducted for cases related to the interests of the State. Meanwhile, Article 16 of the draft Resolution stipulates that mediation is not allowed for civil cases related to public interests (not the interests of the State), which does not ensure consistency.

Therefore, the Committee recommends that the drafting agency continue to study and adjust to ensure consistency with the above laws...

The Supreme People's Procuracy proposed a draft Resolution of the National Assembly on piloting the People's Procuracy in initiating civil lawsuits to protect the civil rights of vulnerable groups or protect public interests, including 4 Chapters and 19 Articles. In which, it is stipulated that the People's Procuracy initiates a civil public interest lawsuit in cases where there is no plaintiff to protect the civil rights of vulnerable groups or to protect public interests and ensure the right to initiate a lawsuit of the People's Procuracy. It is expected that the decree will be piloted in 6 provinces and centrally-run cities with the following scope after the arrangement and merger of a number of provincial-level administrative units. The Resolution takes effect from January 1, 2026 and the pilot implementation period of 3 years is appropriate.

According to VOV

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/du-kien-thi-diem-vksnd-khoi-kien-vu-an-dan-su-tu-1-1-2026-249276.htm