More specific regulations on conditions for receiving citizens online

During the discussion session on the afternoon of November 11, delegates at Group 16 (including the National Assembly delegations of Da Nang, Tuyen Quang, and Cao Bang cities) proposed to add principles on the scale and composition of online citizen reception, the value of electronic records... to ensure effectiveness in implementation and create trust with the people.

National Assembly Delegate Quan Minh Cuong ( Cao Bang ) speaks at the Group. Photo: Pham Thang

Demonstrating the spirit of "government close to the people, by the people, serving the people"

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 has amended Article 15 of the Law on Citizen Reception in the direction of clearly defining the responsibility of the Chairman of the People's Committee at the commune level to directly take charge of citizen reception, periodically at least 2 days per month and receiving suddenly when there are complicated, crowded, and urgent cases.

The draft Law also assigns the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee to promulgate regulations, arrange convenient locations, ensure order and safety, and assign civil servants to advise, monitor, handle petitions and summarize reports.

National Assembly Delegate Ma Thi Thuy ( Tuyen Quang ) said that this is a big step forward demonstrating the spirit of "government close to the people, by the people, serving the people".

National Assembly Delegate Ma Thi Thuy (Tuyen Quang) speaks at the Group. Photo: Pham Thang

When commune-level leaders directly dialogue, listen, and resolve complaints right at the grassroots level, it will help prevent complaints from going beyond the level of the community, resolve them promptly at the root, and strengthen people's trust.

“In reality, people come just to meet the leader so they can present their opinions directly… And they also feel more confident when they can present their opinions,” said delegate Ma Thi Thuy.

However, from monitoring the practice of receiving citizens, delegates also realized that many communes lack specialized civil servants, who hold multiple jobs, and have limited legal qualifications; facilities, funding, and equipment for receiving citizens are still lacking; many places do not have separate citizen reception rooms, causing cases to drag on for many times. At the same time, reporting, statistics, and data connection between communes and provinces are not unified and are still limited.

National Assembly Deputy Pham Duc An ( Da Nang ) speaks at the Group. Photo: Pham Thang

Emphasizing that "the quality of citizen reception depends largely on the authority and responsibility of the person receiving citizens", delegate Ma Thi Thuy proposed to review and study additional regulations on having a Commune-level Citizen Reception Committee established by the Commune People's Committee directly under the People's Committee office and the Commune People's Committee is headed by a Deputy Chief of the People's Committee Office, directly responsible for managing the commune-level citizen reception office.

Adding online citizen reception is an appropriate step forward.

The draft Law has added Article 3a to the current Law on Citizen Reception, which stipulates the form of citizen reception by agencies, organizations and units in two forms: direct and online citizen reception.

Agreeing with the addition of the form of online citizen reception, National Assembly Deputy Be Minh Duc (Cao Bang) explained that after the merger of provincial levels and the implementation of the two-level local government model, many provincial and communal areas were expanded. In some localities, after the merger, the old and new administrative centers were 200 km apart. Most communes are currently still working at two to three headquarters, of which, commune headquarters in mountainous areas are 8 to 15 km apart, making travel difficult. Therefore, according to the delegate, it is necessary to regulate the form of online citizen reception.

National Assembly Deputy Be Minh Duc (Cao Bang) speaks. Photo: Pham Thang

Besides, with the development of science and technology, digital transformation is taking place strongly in our country today, it is possible to meet the conditions for online citizen reception and complaint settlement through electronic data systems.

"Implementing this method will create conditions for faster and more convenient resolution, creating the most favorable conditions for organizations, individuals, people and businesses, reducing pressure on citizen reception work at citizen reception offices like in the recent past," said delegate Be Minh Duc.

Based on the reality that Tuyen Quang province has also implemented online citizen reception from the province to the district and commune levels in recent times, National Assembly Delegate Lo Thi Viet Ha (Tuyen Quang) said that applying information technology to citizen reception, complaints and denunciations is correct.

National Assembly Delegate Lo Thi Viet Ha (Tuyen Quang) speaks at the Group. Photo: Pham Thang

To ensure the feasibility of adding the form of online citizen reception, delegate Lo Thi Viet Ha proposed to study and add principled provisions in the draft Law on the scale and composition of online citizen reception; build a database on citizen reception, complaints and denunciations to suit the two-level government. At the same time, there should be regulations on the legal value of electronic records, documents authenticating the identity of the components participating in online citizen reception; and data security mechanism.

In addition, to carry out online citizen reception, it is necessary to have careful preparation in terms of technical staff, facilities; transmission infrastructure, database, platform...

Therefore, delegates Be Minh Duc and Lo Thi Viet Ha suggested that in the coming time, the Government should direct ministries, branches and localities to review and evaluate technical infrastructure conditions to ensure smooth connection between citizen reception offices from the Central, provincial, city to commune and special economic zones.

In addition, National Assembly Deputy Vuong Thi Huong (Tuyen Quang) also pointed out that this form of citizen reception has a number of risks that need attention, including: personal information security; identity authentication (participants can use fake identities, leading to difficulty in determining legal responsibility); electronic data (risk of editing, cutting, distorting audio and video recording content, or forging electronic documents); or risks when technical problems occur.

National Assembly Delegate Vuong Thi Huong (Tuyen Quang) speaks. Photo: Pham Thang

In order for this form to be implemented effectively and gain people's trust, delegate Vuong Thi Huong proposed adding to Article 6 of the current Law on Citizen Reception a number of prohibited acts when receiving citizens online.

Specifically, it is strictly forbidden to impersonate or use another person's electronic account to participate in citizen receptions; disclose or share information, images, sounds, and documents containing complaints, denunciations, and reflections of citizens without permission; use information and data collected during online citizen receptions for purposes not in accordance with the law; cause disturbance, obstruct, or insult the honor, reputation, and dignity of the person receiving citizens or the person receiving citizens in the online space.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/quy-dinh-cu-the-hon-dieu-kien-tiep-cong-dan-truc-tuyen-10395279.html