Draft Law on Supervisory Activities of the National Assembly and People's Councils (amended): Supervision of the settlement of complaints, denunciations, petitions and reflections of citizens is a special, independent form of supervision.

The Draft Law on Supervision Activities of the National Assembly and People's Councils (amended) has clearly separated "supervision of handling complaints, denunciations, petitions and reflections" into an independent and specific form of supervision. Delegates commented that this provision is necessary because combining the activities of receiving and handling petitions and supervising the results of settlement can easily cause confusion about the scope, method and authority.

Overcoming confusion between content and monitoring methods

At the Conference "Some major issues on receiving and revising the draft Law on Supervisory Activities of the National Assembly and People's Councils (amended) - regulations on supervision of People's Councils", Vice Chairman of the Committee for People's Aspirations and Supervision Hoang Anh Cong stated that the provisions of the current Law on Supervisory Activities of the National Assembly and People's Councils are not really clear about the supervision activities of handling complaints and denunciations, which can easily lead to confusion between the content and method of supervision.

Vice Chairman of the Committee for People's Aspirations and Supervision Hoang Anh Cong spoke at the Conference on receiving, revising and perfecting the draft Law on Supervision Activities of the National Assembly and People's Councils (amended). Photo: H. Ngoc

To overcome this shortcoming, the draft Law on Supervisory Activities of the National Assembly and People's Councils (amended) has been revised, regulating "supervision of the settlement of complaints, denunciations, petitions and reflections of citizens". Accordingly, the draft Law clearly defines this as an independent and specific form of supervision, aimed at specific complaints and denunciations, including activities such as receiving, processing, transferring petitions to competent agencies and persons for settlement, monitoring, urging, supervising the settlement... corresponding to the authority of the Standing Committee of the People's Council, the People's Council Committee, and People's Council delegates.

Specifically, Article 80 of the draft Law has added provisions on the responsibility of the Standing Committee of the People's Council in "organizing reception, research, and processing; when necessary, transferring to competent agencies, organizations, and individuals for consideration and resolution"; at the same time, adding the authority "If necessary, the Standing Committee of the People's Council assigns the People's Council Committee, the People's Council Delegation Group to organize a thematic supervision delegation; send members to review and verify issues that the Standing Committee of the People's Council is interested in".

Article 91 of the draft amended Law stipulates specifically that the authority of the People's Council Committee is to only organize a Supervisory Delegation to supervise the settlement of complaints, denunciations, petitions and reflections of citizens according to the assignment of the Standing Committee of the People's Council.

“The provisions in Article 91 of the draft Law ensure consistency with the organizational structure of the People's Council Committee and avoid overlapping with the activities of receiving and handling petitions of the People's Council Standing Committee,” emphasized Deputy Chairman of the People's Aspirations and Supervision Committee Hoang Anh Cong.

Article 98 of the draft Law supplements many provisions on responsibilities, authority, and mechanisms to ensure the activities of People's Council delegates in supervising the settlement of complaints, denunciations, recommendations, and reflections of citizens.
Specifically, it is necessary to supplement the regulation that the Standing Committee of the People's Council is responsible for organizing for People's Council delegates to receive citizens, supervise the settlement of complaints, denunciations, recommendations and reflections of citizens in the locality; supplement the regulation on the authority to request information from relevant agencies, organizations and individuals and the right to request the application of necessary measures to end violations.

The Vice Chairman of the People's Aspirations and Supervision Committee commented, "These regulations are to ensure that the supervisory activities of People's Council deputies are effective, efficient, consistent with the role of People's Council deputies and commensurate with the authority of other entities in this activity."

Add mandatory feedback mechanism

Appreciating the new approach of the draft Law when clearly separating "supervision of handling complaints, denunciations, petitions and reflections" into a separate, specific form of supervision, National Assembly Deputy Thach Phuoc Binh ( Vinh Long ) said that this provision is necessary because in reality, combining the activities of receiving and handling petitions and supervising the results of handling them can easily cause confusion about the scope, methods and authority, leading to overlapping responsibilities or omissions of responsibilities.

National Assembly Delegate Thach Phuoc Binh (Vinh Long) speaks. Photo: H. Ngoc

"The draft Law clearly stipulates each stage of receiving - processing - transferring applications - urging - monitoring results, which is an important step to ensure effectiveness, transparency and avoid formality." Emphasizing this, delegate Thach Phuoc Binh also suggested that to ensure consistency and feasibility, it is necessary to add a mandatory feedback mechanism.

Accordingly, the agency or individual responsible for handling complaints and denunciations must provide written feedback on the results of the handling to the supervisory agency within a certain period of time (no more than 30 days). In case of complicated cases, the time limit may be extended, but the reason for the extension must be notified in writing.

At the same time, supplement the principle of publicity in the direction that the results of the settlement must be notified to citizens and made public, except in cases where the law stipulates confidentiality. Clearly define the responsibilities of the Office of the National Assembly Delegation and the People's Council in advising, synthesizing, and urging.

Still concerned about the rights of the People's Council, Dr. Le Thi Tuoi, Academy of Public Administration and Management, proposed to maintain the provisions in Clause 1, Article 82 of the current Law on the authority of the People's Council "Organizing a delegation to supervise the settlement of complaints, denunciations, and recommendations at the local level" along with other supervision methods, such as examining reports of agencies on the settlement of complaints and denunciations; receiving and processing petitions, complaints, denunciations, etc.

Expressing his opinion on this issue, delegate Thach Phuoc Binh said that although the People's Council Committee is very active, if kept as the current law, it will overlap with the Standing Committee of the People's Council. Therefore, the proposed draft Law is completely reasonable, ensuring that the People's Council Committee participates in supervision but according to the assignment of the Standing Committee of the People's Council, helping to increase procedural discipline.

The draft Law on Supervisory Activities of the National Assembly and People's Councils (amended) will be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval at the 10th Session. Chairman of the People's Aspirations and Supervisory Committee Duong Thanh Binh emphasized that the opinions at the Conference are the basis for building an increasingly complete and perfect legal framework on supervision, meeting the requirements of national governance innovation in the new development stage.

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