Perfecting the legal framework on citizen reception, complaints and denunciations

(Chinhphu.vn) - The draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Citizen Reception, the Law on Complaints and the Law on Denunciations received many constructive comments, reflecting the interest, responsibility and great expectations for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of state management in receiving citizens, resolving complaints and denunciations, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the people.

Government Inspector General Doan Hong Phong explained the issues raised by delegates.

Receiving citizens online and requesting to ensure safety and security

On the afternoon of December 5, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Citizen Reception, the Law on Complaints and the Law on Denunciation. Delegates highly appreciated the preparation work, saying that the draft law fully grasped the Party's policies and guidelines, and at the same time institutionalized the requirements and tasks set out in Resolution No. 27, Resolution No. 28 and related conclusions of the Politburo and the Secretariat.

At the discussion session, the majority of National Assembly deputies said that amending and supplementing a number of articles of three current laws is necessary to meet practical requirements, contributing to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of state management in receiving citizens, resolving complaints and denunciations, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the people.

Explaining and clarifying the issues of concern to delegates, Government Inspector General Doan Hong Phong pointed out many major groups of issues. Regarding the form of online citizen reception, the majority of delegates agreed to supplement this regulation and suggested clearly defining the applicable cases, building a national database on citizen reception, standardizing the organizational process, ensuring safety, security and information storage. The drafting agency agreed and will show details in the Government's decree guiding the implementation of the law.

Regarding the responsibilities of the head, the subject of citizen reception and the model of citizen reception organization at the commune level, some delegates proposed to authorize the deputy and establish a Citizen Reception Committee at the commune level. The drafting agency said that the draft law continues to inherit the current regulations, not allowing authorization to ensure the direct responsibility of the head in accordance with the spirit of Directive 35 and Conclusion 107 of the Politburo.

At the same time, current laws have fully regulated the subjects of citizen reception at all levels and related organizations. To avoid the emergence of new organizations, in line with the policy of streamlining the apparatus, the draft does not add the model of the Commune-level Citizen Reception Committee but arranges a civil servant unit belonging to the appropriate unit of the Commune-level People's Committee to undertake the task of receiving citizens and resolving complaints and denunciations.

Regarding the suspension of complaint settlement, there is a proposal to add a case where the complainant is summoned many times for dialogue but does not show up. The drafting agency believes that the suspension in this case may affect the legitimate rights of the complainant while the administrative agency still has to fulfill its responsibility to resolve the matter, so it is recommended to keep the provisions as in the draft. As for the proposal of delegate Tran Van Tuan (Bac Ninh delegation) regarding the suspension of complaint settlement in cases of force majeure, the drafting agency said it will accept and specify it in the guiding decree.

Regarding the organization of citizen reception of the People's Council, delegate Hoang Anh Cong (Thai Nguyen Delegation) proposed a review to ensure consistency with the Law on Organization of Local Government. The drafting agency said it would adjust Clause 2, Article 22 of the draft to comply with relevant regulations.

Regarding the protection of whistleblowers, some delegates proposed to amend and supplement the provisions in Article 47 of the Law on Denunciation to ensure consistency with Regulation 231 of the Politburo. After reviewing, the drafting agency affirmed that the current Law on Denunciation has fully regulated the contents of protecting whistleblowers, including protection of information, job position and life, and the mechanism for handling acts of retaliation. Because the scope and subjects of protection are consistent with Regulation 231, it is proposed to maintain the current regulations.

Regarding other contents mentioned by delegates, the drafting agency will continue to coordinate with the People's Aspirations Committee and National Assembly agencies to research, absorb, perfect, and ensure full institutionalization of the Party's policies and compliance with the current legal system, meeting practical requirements.

Propose to absorb and comprehensively revise to complete the draft law

Concluding the discussion session, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong said that 58 delegates spoke in groups and in the hall. The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly highly appreciated the lively discussion atmosphere, opinions with clear political and legal bases and demonstrated the high sense of responsibility of the National Assembly delegates towards the draft law. The Government Inspector General directly explained many major issues, clarifying the content of the delegates' concerns.

According to the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly, the majority of opinions agreed with the need to amend the law and approved many contents of the draft, and at the same time suggested continuing to research and clarify issues such as the principle of confidentiality in online citizen reception, data connection for citizen reception and settlement of complaints and denunciations, regulations on suspension and temporary suspension in cases of force majeure or objective obstacles, maximum suspension period, as well as reviewing the authority to resolve first-time administrative complaints of Chairmen of People's Committees at all levels.

The protection of whistleblowers and the scope of protection also need to be considered to ensure consistency between Party regulations and State laws.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly said that the Secretary General of the National Assembly will compile all comments and send them to the delegates and relevant agencies. At the same time, he requested the Government to direct the Government Inspectorate to preside over and coordinate with ministries, branches and the Standing Committee of the People's Aspirations and Supervision Committee to study, absorb and revise the draft law, and fully explain the comments raised in the group and hall discussions.

Based on the report of the Standing Committee of the People's Aspirations and Supervision Committee and the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Government Inspectorate coordinated to complete the draft, ensuring quality, full acceptance, convincing explanation, and creating high consensus before submitting it to the National Assembly for consideration and approval.

Hai Lien

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/hoan-thien-khung-phap-ly-ve-tiep-cong-dan-khieu-nai-va-to-cao-102251205170417066.htm