Prohibit requiring citizens to provide criminal records when not really necessary

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh speaks at the meeting. *Photo: mediaquochoi*

Briefly presenting the draft Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Judicial Records, Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Van Long said that after 15 years of implementing the 2009 Law on Judicial Records, many remarkable results have been achieved, but a number of problems and shortcomings have also been revealed that need to be amended and supplemented.

According to the representative of the Ministry of Public Security, the scope of regulation and subjects of application of the Basic Law are kept the same as the 2009 Law on Judicial Records. In addition, the draft Law amends and supplements 26/57 articles; abolishes 2/57 articles of the 2009 Law on Judicial Records.

Accordingly, the draft Law has been amended and supplemented, focusing on basic contents, such as: Amending the model of the Criminal Records Database from 2 dispersed, unconcentrated levels to a centralized, unified one-level Criminal Records Database model; at the same time, amending regulations on receiving and updating criminal records information to be consistent with the one-level Criminal Records Database model and the functions and tasks of the Ministry of Public Security.

Amending and supplementing regulations on the use of Criminal Records to address the abuse of Criminal Records No. 2 and in accordance with legal regulations on personal data protection...

In order to reduce the number of people requesting to be issued with a Criminal Record Certificate in accordance with the direction of the Prime Minister and in accordance with the working coordination relationship between state agencies, the draft Law has added regulations on providing criminal record information to agencies and organizations in written form.

To fully realize the direction of the Government and the Prime Minister on promoting the application of information technology, providing online public services, and digital transformation in judicial records work, the draft Law has added regulations on electronic Judicial Records, diversifying methods of issuing Judicial Records, in which requests for online issuance of Judicial Records are encouraged.

Supplementing regulations on non-discrimination of administrative boundaries in handling administrative procedures for issuing Criminal Records to comply with current legal regulations, accordingly, individuals have the right to submit applications for issuance of Criminal Records directly at any provincial-level police station or commune-level police station that is most convenient for the people...

After listening to the discussion opinions, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh affirmed that the National Assembly Standing Committee had discussed and highly agreed with the necessity of amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Judicial Records and acknowledged the efforts of the drafting agency, the Ministry of Public Security, and the reviewing agency, the Committee on Law and Justice, in coordinating the development of the draft law.

Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Van Long speaks at the meeting. *Photo: mediaquochoi*

The National Assembly Standing Committee highly appreciated the innovative contents of this draft law, which are in line with practical requirements, such as: Innovation in organizational structure, building a database, clearly defining the rights and obligations of subjects, simplifying administrative procedures, and issuing electronic criminal records. The draft law dossier is eligible to be submitted to the National Assembly for approval at the 10th session according to the shortened procedures.

Regarding some major contents with different opinions, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh said that, regarding the issuance of Judicial Records Certificates for convicted commercial legal entities, the Standing Committee agrees with the Government and has not raised this issue in this amendment.

Regarding the criminal record certificate, the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed to maintain the first and second ballots. At the same time, it proposed to add to the draft law a principled provision that strictly prohibits agencies and organizations from requiring citizens to provide the second criminal record certificate when not really necessary, to avoid abuse and to be associated with the protection of personal data.

Regarding the order, procedures and time limit for issuing vouchers, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly welcomed the Government's proposal on simplification and shortening the time limit, and suggested continuing to review to create favorable conditions for people and limit cases where the time limit for issuing vouchers must be extended.

In addition, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly requested the Government to base on the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee and the review report to promptly complete the draft law dossier. It is necessary to continue reviewing and ensuring the consistency of the law with related laws, such as the Penal Code, the Law on Identification... At the same time, to meet the requirements of international integration and demonstrate the spirit of innovation in thinking in law-making, specific regulations can be assigned to the Government to create flexibility.

"The Committee on Law and Justice will closely coordinate with the drafting agency to complete the dossier, officially review it and submit it to the National Assembly according to regulations," said Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/cam-yeu-cau-cong-dan-cung-cap-phieu-ly-lich-tu-phap-khi-khong-thuc-su-can-thiet-715188.html