The patient room at the Central Institute of Forensic Psychiatry - Photo: G.KHIEM
Recently, the police agency has prosecuted a series of leaders and officials of the Central Institute of Forensic Psychiatry on charges of accepting bribes when concluding psychiatric examinations. These people even arranged a separate room, with air conditioning and sound equipment, for the subjects being forced to organize parties and use drugs.
Previously, the incident at the Bien Hoa Central Institute of Forensic Psychiatry also caused public outrage. In response to the above situation, the Ministry of Health has just issued a new circular stipulating the standards for appointing forensic examiners and forensic psychiatric examiners, effective from August 15, 2025, replacing Circular 11/2022/TT-BYT.
Bringing ethics and political awareness into standards
According to the new regulations, all appraisers must be Vietnamese citizens residing in the country, working in the health sector, police or military, be in good health, and fully meet judicial ethics standards.
Specifically, appraisers must demonstrate a sense of responsibility, dedication, objectivity, and impartiality when performing their duties; resolutely combat all acts that violate the people's legitimate rights and interests; not cover up, not be authoritarian, and not take advantage of their positions for corruption or personal gain.
In addition, appraisers must constantly practice ethics, cultivate lifestyle, improve political and legal awareness,...
Compared to Circular 11/2022/TT-BYT which only generally stipulates the requirement that Vietnamese citizens permanently residing in Vietnam must meet the prescribed standards and have good moral health, the new regulation clearly and specifically states the standards on professional attitude and behavior.
Standardize qualifications and experience
In addition to ethical requirements, the new Circular also provides more specific and strict regulations on professional qualifications. Specifically, forensic examiners are required to have a university degree in medicine (code 7720101).
If you are doing toxicology assessment, you must graduate from chemistry or pharmacy according to the new training code.
Biomedical engineering requires a degree in biology or applied biology.
For forensic psychiatric examiners, in addition to a medical university degree, they must also have a level I specialist qualification (or equivalent) in psychiatry. This is a notable new point compared to the old circular, showing the determination to improve the quality of examiners in this sensitive field.
In terms of experience, the appraiser must have at least 5 years of practical experience in a relevant professional field, with no interruptions exceeding 2 years.
In case of having directly assisted in appraisal activities at a competent authority, recognition can be obtained if there are 3 years of continuous work.
In addition, a certificate of professional appraisal is still a mandatory condition, according to Circular 06/2019/TT-BYT.
The new circular allows forensic psychiatric examiners who were appointed before the effective date but have not yet met the new professional qualifications to continue performing their duties but are required to complete additional qualifications and certificates before August 15, 2028. Those who do not meet the requirements will be considered for dismissal and have their examiner cards revoked.
For applications for appointment or dismissal of appraisers submitted before July 1, 2025, they will still be processed according to the old regulations to ensure that the administrative process is not interrupted.
The new circular will officially take effect from August 15, with the expectation of raising the quality of appraisal to a new level, making it more fair and transparent, avoiding human loopholes that lead to injustice, letting criminals escape, or abetting corruption and group interests.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/sau-be-boi-tieu-cuc-trong-giam-dinh-tam-than-bo-y-te-siet-chat-quan-ly-the-nao-20250704154553598.htm
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