Raise the level of asset and income declaration to match reality, focus on controlling assets of large value

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man speaks at the meeting

Raise the level of asset and income declaration to match reality

Presenting the basic content of the draft Law, Government Inspector General Doan Hong Phong said that the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Anti-Corruption amends a number of provisions on assessing anti-corruption work; application of science, technology, digital transformation in management; asset and income control agencies; tasks and powers of asset and income control agencies; assets and income that must be declared; asset and income verification activities; detecting corruption through inspection and auditing activities; authority of inspection agencies in inspecting cases with signs of corruption; receiving and resolving feedback and denunciations about acts of corruption and a number of other contents to overcome limitations and shortcomings in the implementation process.

Regarding the value of assets and income levels to monitor fluctuations and verify assets and income, the draft Law amends and supplements Point a, Clause 2, Article 31, Article 40, Point b, Clause 1, Article 41, stipulating the increase in the value of assets and income levels when there are fluctuations during the year from "300,000,000" to "1,000,000,000" to suit current actual conditions and create long-term stability, while ensuring consistency with the increase in the value of assets that must be declared by about 3 times (from 50,000,000 VND to 150,000,000 VND).

Presenting the Report on the review of the Law project, Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee Hoang Thanh Tung stated that the Committee agreed with the necessity of promulgating the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Anti-Corruption for the reasons stated in the Government's Submission. The dossier of the Law project is eligible to be submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee for consideration and comments.

The draft Law focuses on amending and supplementing regulations related to control agencies, declaration and verification of assets and income; assessment of anti-corruption work; application of science and technology, digital transformation; authority to inspect cases with signs of corruption, etc.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh speaks — Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh chaired the meeting.

The Committee on Law and Justice found that, in addition to the issues expected to be revised and supplemented, there are still a number of other contents that need to be further studied and revised to fully institutionalize the Party's policies and overcome limitations and shortcomings in the work of preventing and combating corruption.

In particular, there are contents that can be institutionalized in the draft Law such as "including the declaration and control of declaration of assets and income into the criteria for evaluating cadres, party members and the level of task completion of agencies, organizations, units and heads" in Conclusion No. 105-KL/TW. For some other issues, it is possible to study the principled regulations and assign the Government to specify in detail.

Chairman of the Committee on Law and Justice Hoang Thanh Tung presents the Report on the review of the Law project.

Regarding the adjustment to increase the level of asset and income declaration, the Law and Justice Committee basically agrees with the adjustment to increase this level to suit the practical socio-economic situation, focusing on controlling the declaration of assets of large value, and reducing unnecessary administrative procedures.

Besides, there are opinions suggesting not to prescribe fixed amounts of money in the Law but to assign the Government to specify them for flexible adjustment in each stage.

Strengthen detection and handling of cases, focusing on asset recovery

The National Assembly Standing Committee highly appreciated the process of building the draft Law dossier. The drafting agency promptly disseminated the Party and State's guidelines, policies, tasks and solutions for the fight against corruption; thereby clarifying the legal and practical basis for the amendment.

Giving his opinion at the meeting, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man asked the Government Inspectorate to clarify whether the process of drafting the Law referred to the experiences of other countries or not?

Through contact with voters, the National Assembly Chairman said that many cases were handled seriously, without any forbidden areas, creating trust within the organization as well as among the people and foreign investors.

Emphasizing the important role of institutions, the National Assembly Chairman noted that the amendments and supplements to the Law this time must create a strong impact on the fight against corruption. Along with that, there must be a breakthrough to strengthen the declaration and verification of assets and income; transparency in bidding and state budget management, to prevent losses, especially for construction investment projects.

The National Assembly Chairman suggested that the drafting agency should consider whether it is possible to add mandatory regulations on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to monitor bidding to avoid "backyards". Along with that, it is also very important to define the responsibilities of the head, expanding the responsibility from detection to proactive prevention to increase the weight of the Law.

In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the detection and handling of cases, focus on asset recovery; ensure the independence of agencies, and apply technology and big data in corruption prevention and control.

Regarding the regulations on the asset and income control agency in Clause 4, Article 1, Permanent Deputy Head of the People's Aspirations and Supervision Committee Le Thi Nga stated that the draft Law supplements Clause 1, Article 30 of the current Law on the authority to control assets and income of the Inspection Committees at all levels; amends and supplements Clause 3, Article 30 of the current Law on the authority to control assets and income of the Delegation Work Committee for those who are obliged to declare under its management authority.

Permanent Deputy Head of the People's Aspirations and Supervision Committee Le Thi Nga speaks

Meanwhile, the current Law stipulates that the representative work agency controls the assets and income of other persons with declaration obligations under the management authority of the National Assembly Standing Committee. Therefore, the Standing Deputy Chairman of the People's Aspirations and Supervision Committee proposed to clarify more about other persons with declaration obligations under the management authority of the Representative Work Committee to regulate appropriately.

On the other hand, currently the Nationalities Council and the National Assembly Committees all have specialized departments under their management, therefore, the control of assets and income of these subjects also needs to be studied and legalized during the process of amending this Law.

Regarding the prevention and fight against corruption in the non-state sector, the draft Law removes the word “encourage” in Clause 2, Article 78 of the current Law and requires the non-state sector to be responsible for promulgating codes of professional ethics and business ethics. The Standing Deputy Chairman of the People's Aspirations and Supervision Committee suggested careful consideration and assessment before adjusting this content, because this is an important issue with a great impact on the business community. The adjustment also affects the structure and consistency of the Law in some contents on the prevention and fight against corruption in the non-state sector.

Concluding the session, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh stated that the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed with the objectives and viewpoints of amending and supplementing this Law to institutionalize the Party's new guidelines and policies on corruption prevention and control, streamlining the organizational apparatus, building a two-level local government, and overcoming the limitations and shortcomings of the current Law. Thereby, contributing to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of state management and promoting socio-economic development.

The National Assembly Standing Committee highly appreciated the draft Law dossier which was fully prepared in accordance with regulations, ensuring sufficient conditions to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval under the shortened process at the 10th Session; highly appreciated the Verification Report of the Committee on Law and Justice which comprehensively presented the contents; and detailed and specific opinions and viewpoints.

Government Inspector General Doan Hong Phong presented the basic content of the draft Law.

The National Assembly Standing Committee requested the Government, the drafting agency, and the reviewing agency to continue to coordinate to fully absorb opinions and complete the draft Law to be submitted to the National Assembly at the upcoming 10th Session. In particular, attention should be paid to the contents of completing the dossier, the Draft Law Submission, and supplementing international experiences...

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