Timely institutionalization of the Party's policies and guidelines on corruption prevention and control

On the afternoon of October 15th, continuing the program of the 50th session, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly gave its opinion on the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Prevention and Combat of Corruption.

Institutionalize it into law.

Presenting the draft law, the Inspector General of the Government , Doan Hong Phong, stated that after more than six years of implementing the Law on Prevention and Combat of Corruption, with continuous efforts, the work of preventing and combating corruption has made significant and strong progress, with many breakthrough policies and solutions that have gone into depth, achieving many very positive, comprehensive, and synchronized results, which have been supported, welcomed, and highly appreciated by officials, Party members, and the people; corruption has been curbed, gradually prevented, and is showing a downward trend.

The work of detecting and handling corruption has been directed and implemented systematically, synchronously, decisively, and effectively, creating a breakthrough in the fight against corruption.

However, alongside the achievements, the implementation of the Law on Prevention and Combat of Corruption has revealed some shortcomings and limitations. Some of the Party's guidelines and policies on preventing and combating corruption have not been promptly institutionalized into law.

The mechanisms, policies, and laws are still inconsistent and have not thoroughly addressed the practical issues that arise; some legal provisions have not kept pace with the development of society and have been exploited by individuals to commit acts of corruption, conceal, transform, and transfer corrupt assets, making it difficult to detect, prosecute, and recover corrupt assets.

Regulations on asset and income declaration are incomplete, and regulations on asset and income control are subject to various interpretations, inconsistent implementation, and confusion, leading to many obstacles and low effectiveness.

Based on the above political , legal and practical bases, it is very necessary to develop a Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Anti-Corruption.

A view of the National Assembly Standing Committee meeting on the afternoon of October 15. (Photo: Tuan Anh/VNA)

The draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Prevention and Combat of Corruption revises several regulations on evaluating anti-corruption work; application of science, technology, and digital transformation in management; asset and income control agencies; duties and powers of asset and income control agencies; assets and income subject to declaration; asset and income verification activities; detection of corruption through inspection and auditing activities; authority of inspection agencies in inspecting cases with signs of corruption; receiving and resolving complaints and denunciations about acts of corruption; and other contents to overcome limitations and shortcomings in the implementation process.

Raising the threshold for assets that must be declared from 50 million to 150 million VND.

Some notable amendments and improvements relate to regulations concerning asset and income control agencies and the declaration of assets and income.

To overcome difficulties and obstacles in implementing regulations on asset and income control agencies, the draft Law has stipulated a unified and synchronized structure for asset and income control agencies, avoiding ambiguity regarding authority and ensuring consistency and conformity with the Party's regulations.

The agencies responsible for controlling assets and income include: the Party Committee's Inspection Committee at the immediate higher level; the Government Inspectorate; the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the State Audit Office, the National Assembly Office, the President's Office, the National Assembly's Committee on Representative Affairs, central agencies of political and social organizations; ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and provincial and centrally-administered city inspectorates.

Regarding assets and income that must be declared (Article 35), the draft Law amends the phrase "housing" to "ownership rights to housing" to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Land Law and the Housing Law; it also increases the declared asset value from "50,000,000" to "150,000,000" to reflect current socio-economic development and the significant changes in prices compared to 2018.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man delivers a speech. (Photo: Tuan Anh/VNA)

Regarding asset values and income levels for monitoring changes and verifying assets and income: the draft Law amending and supplementing point a, clause 2, Article 31, and point b, clause 1, Article 41 stipulates an increase in asset value and income levels when there is an increase during the year from "300,000,000" to "1,000,000,000" to suit current practical conditions and create long-term stability, while ensuring consistency with the increase in asset value that must be declared to approximately three times (from 50,000,000 VND to 150,000,000 VND) as shown in Article 35 of the draft Law.

In the report reviewing the draft law, the Chairman of the National Assembly's Law and Justice Committee, Hoang Thanh Tung, stated that the Committee basically agrees with adjusting this increase to suit the practical socio-economic situation, focusing on controlling the declaration of high-value assets 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.

According to the Committee on Justice and Law, the draft Law focuses on amending and supplementing regulations related to the control agency, the declaration and verification of assets and income; the evaluation of anti-corruption work; the application of science and technology, digital transformation; the authority to inspect cases with signs of corruption, etc.

The Committee on Justice and Law recognizes that, in addition to the issues slated for amendment and supplementation, there are still several other areas that need further study and revision to fully institutionalize the Party's policies and overcome limitations and shortcomings in the fight against corruption, such as: the recovery of assets lost or misappropriated in criminal cases related to corruption and economic crimes; incorporating the declaration and control of asset and income declarations into the criteria for evaluating cadres, Party members, and the level of task completion of agencies, organizations, units, and their leaders; the handling of assets that are not truthfully declared, and assets whose origin cannot be explained; and accountability...

This includes provisions that can be immediately institutionalized in the draft Law, such as "incorporating the declaration and control of asset and income declarations into the criteria for evaluating cadres, Party members, and the level of task completion of agencies, organizations, units, and their heads" as stated in Conclusion No. 105-KL/TW.

(VNA/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/the-che-hoa-kip-thoi-chu-truong-chinh-sach-cua-dang-ve-phong-chong-tham-nhung-post1070498.vnp