Really "unleash" the activities of judicial appraisal offices

On the morning of November 11, under the direction of Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh, the National Assembly worked in the Hall to discuss the draft Law on Judicial Expertise (amended) and the draft Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement (amended).

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh chaired the discussion session. Photo: Pham Thang

Expanding the scope of forensic examination

To promote the socialization of forensic examination activities, the draft Law on Forensic Examination (amended) has amended and supplemented regulations that Forensic Examination Offices are established in the fields of antiques, relics, copyright, DNA, documents, digital and electronic technology, fingerprints, and the fields of finance, banking, construction, and resources.

As for the specialized fields of DNA, documents, digital and electronic techniques, and fingerprints, the Office of Forensic Expertise is not allowed to perform forensic expertise in criminal proceedings, except in special cases where the person requesting the forensic expertise requests it.

Agreeing with the policy of socializing forensic examination activities, National Assembly Deputy La Thanh Tan ( Hai Phong ) noted that, in addition to the forensic examination fields expanded for the forensic examination office to perform as stipulated in the draft Law, a number of other potential fields such as environment, food safety, pharmaceuticals, information and communication technology, endangered and rare animals need to be studied and supplemented with regulations.

National Assembly Delegate La Thanh Tan (Hai Phong) speaks. Photo: Quang Khanh

Delegate La Thanh Tan also noted that currently there are not enough regulations to facilitate the operations of private forensic organizations, including: establishment and registration mechanisms, equipment and human resource conditions, quality standards; coordination mechanisms with public agencies; mechanisms to ensure access to information and facilities for forensic services.

This leads to difficulties in implementation, reducing the effectiveness, quality and feasibility of socialization. Therefore, delegates suggested that it is necessary to supplement favorable regulations, truly "unleashing" the activities of Judicial Expertise Offices.

Accordingly, it is necessary to supplement regulations on registration mechanisms, human resource and equipment standards, physical conditions, and coordination procedures with public agencies. It is necessary to develop a mechanism for quality control, periodic monitoring and evaluation to ensure efficiency and transparency, while protecting the rights of those requesting appraisals and meeting procedural requirements. "These regulations will promote the policy of socialization while ensuring quality, efficiency, and feasibility in practice," emphasized delegate La Thanh Tan.

Similarly, regarding the conditions for the establishment and operation of the Judicial Expertise Office, instead of the regulation as stated in Point a, Clause 6, Article 20 as "The Head of the Judicial Expertise Office is a judicial expert with at least 3 years of experience in the field for which the Office is proposed to be established", the delegate proposed to amend the regulation to "The Head of the Judicial Expertise Office is a judicial expert with at least 3 years of experience in the appointed field", to unleash social resources for judicial expertise activities.

Defining the Line Between “Legal Disclaimer” and “Professional Liability”

A new content of the draft Law is to add provisions to protect forensic experts. Accordingly, Point i, Clause 1, Article 24 of the draft Law stipulates the exemption of legal liability for forensic experts during the process of performing forensic activities.

National Assembly Deputy Hoang Quoc Khanh (Lai Chau) said that this is an issue that needs to be carefully considered, both to protect the appraiser and to ensure the principles of objectivity, honesty and professional responsibility in judicial appraisal.

National Assembly Deputy Hoang Quoc Khanh (Lai Chau) speaks. Photo: Ho Long

Forensic appraisal is a special and complex field that directly affects the outcome of criminal, civil and administrative cases. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a reasonable protection mechanism for forensic appraisers to encourage them to confidently contribute and properly perform their professional functions. However, according to delegate Hoang Quoc Khanh, strict regulations are needed to avoid abusing "exemptions".

If not clearly designed and the exemption from liability is too broad, it will lead to a reduction in the personal responsibility of the appraiser; weaken the mechanism to control and monitor the honesty of the appraisal conclusion. In particular, it will seriously affect the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and citizens if the conclusion is wrong but there is no mechanism to bind responsibility.

Therefore, delegate Hoang Quoc Khanh suggested that it is necessary to clearly define the boundary between “legal liability exemption” and “professional responsibility and professional ethics”. Exemption does not mean that the appraiser has the right to make mistakes or be dishonest, but only applies when they comply with the law, professional procedures, do not make intentional mistakes, do not seek personal gain, and do not intentionally distort the appraisal conclusion.

The delegate said that the exemption is not absolute, but conditional, and only applies when the appraiser complies with the process and professional standards; there is no intentional error or violation of professional ethics; there is an objective, honest conclusion, and it is made by the correct authority. At the same time, it is necessary to clearly define the scope of exemption, which only applies to civil liability, not including violations of criminal law or intentional falsification of appraisal conclusions; and to supplement a clearer professional supervision mechanism.

Flexible mechanism is needed with experts of high scientific reputation.

Regarding the standards for appraisers, Point b, Clause 1, Article 10 of the draft Law stipulates the standard of "having worked in the field of training for 5 years or more".

Delegate Duong Khac Mai (Lam Dong) speaks. Photo: Ho Long

Delegate Duong Khac Mai (Lam Dong) said that the above standard of having 5 years of experience was introduced to ensure the quality of appraisers. However, in reality, there are more and more young, talented experts with doctoral and master's degrees, researchers with many scientific works recognized domestically and internationally, especially in new fields such as information technology, digital data, digital forensic techniques, DNA analysis or electronic evidence..., but have not worked for 5 years.

According to the delegate, in these cases, the provisions of the draft Law will prevent them from being considered for appointment as judicial experts. Therefore, it is necessary to supplement the provisions of the draft Law in the direction of opening a more flexible mechanism allowing the specialized management ministry to submit to the Government regulations on special cases for experts with high scientific reputation, meeting practical capacity but not having enough years as prescribed.

Image of delegates attending the meeting. Photo: Pham Thang

Regarding the cost of forensic examination, Clause 4 of Article 40 stipulates “according to the forensic examination price frame prescribed by the Minister or Head of the ministerial-level agency managing the specialized field of examination”. Delegate Duong Khac Mai said that this provision will lead to each ministry and each sector issuing a different price, leading to a lack of consistency, difficulty in ensuring the principle of equality between the subjects participating in the proceedings and easily giving rise to complaints and comparisons.

To ensure transparency and consistency, delegates suggested that the Drafting Committee consider regulations in the direction of assigning the Government to issue a framework of costs for forensic appraisal services that is applied uniformly nationwide, taking into account the specifics of each field and the complexity of the appraisal. Based on that framework, each ministry and sector can provide detailed instructions, but must comply with general principles, not giving rise to local mechanisms or individual self-determination.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/thuc-su-coi-troi-cho-hoat-dong-cua-cac-van-phong-giam-dinh-tu-phap-10395195.html