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

On the afternoon of October 15, continuing the 50th Session, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Anti-Corruption.

Institutionalized into law

Presenting the draft law, Government Inspector General Doan Hong Phong said that after more than 6 years of implementing the Law on Anti-Corruption, with tireless efforts, the work of anti-corruption has made important and strong progress, with many breakthrough policies and solutions, going into depth, achieving many very positive, comprehensive and synchronous results, which have been agreed upon, responded to and highly appreciated by cadres, party members and people; corruption has been restrained, gradually prevented and tends to decrease.

The work of detecting and handling corruption is directed and implemented methodically, synchronously, resolutely and effectively, creating a breakthrough in corruption prevention and control.

However, in addition to the achievements, the implementation of the Law on Anti-Corruption has encountered some shortcomings and limitations. Some of the Party's guidelines and policies on anti-corruption have not been promptly institutionalized into law.

Mechanisms, policies and laws are still lacking in synchronization and have not thoroughly resolved practical problems; some legal regulations have not kept up with the development of society and have been exploited by subjects to commit acts of corruption, conceal, transform and disperse corrupt assets, causing difficulties in detecting, handling corruption and recovering corrupt assets.

Regulations on asset and income declaration are incomplete, regulations on asset and income control are still misunderstood, inconsistently implemented and confusing, encounter many difficulties in implementation, and are not very effective.

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.

Scene 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 Anti-Corruption amends a number of provisions on assessing anti-corruption work; application of science, technology, digital transformation in management; asset and income control agencies; tasks and powers of asset and income control agencies; assets and income that must be declared; asset and income verification activities; detecting corruption through inspection and auditing activities; authority of inspection agencies in inspecting cases with signs of corruption; receiving and handling feedback and denunciations about acts of corruption and a number of other contents to overcome limitations and shortcomings in the implementation process.

Increase the value of assets that must be declared from 50 million to 150 million VND

Some notable amendments and improvements relate to regulations on asset and income control agencies and asset and income declaration.

To overcome difficulties and obstacles in implementing regulations on asset and income control agencies, the draft Law has unified and synchronized asset and income control agencies, avoiding unclear authority, ensuring consistency and compliance with Party regulations.

Agencies controlling assets and income include: Inspection Committees of Party Committees at the grassroots level and above; Government Inspectorate; Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuracy, State Audit, Office of the National Assembly, Office of the President, National Assembly Delegation Work Committee, Central agencies of socio-political organizations; Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Government agencies and Inspectorates of provinces and centrally run cities.

Regarding assets and income that must be declared (Article 35), the draft Law amends the phrase "housing" to "housing ownership" to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Land Law and the Housing Law; stipulates an increase in the value of declared assets from "50,000,000" to "150,000,000" to suit the current socio-economic development conditions and prices, which have changed a lot compared to 2018.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man speaks. (Photo: Tuan Anh/VNA)

Regarding asset value and income level to monitor fluctuations and verify assets and income: the draft Law amends and supplements Point a, Clause 2, Article 31, Article 40, Point b, Clause 1, Article 41, stipulating the increase in asset value and income level when there is an increase in fluctuation during the year from "300,000,000" to "1,000,000,000" to suit current actual conditions and create long-term stability, while ensuring consistency with the increase in the value of assets that must be declared by about 3 times (from 50,000,000 VND to 150,000,000 VND) as shown in Article 35 of the draft Law.

In the report examining the draft law, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Law and Justice Hoang Thanh Tung said the Committee basically agreed to adjust this increase to suit the practical socio-economic situation, focusing on controlling the declaration of valuable 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.

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

The Committee on Justice and Law found that in addition to the issues planned for amendment and supplementation, there are still a number of other contents that need to be further studied and amended to fully institutionalize the Party's policies and overcome limitations and shortcomings in the work of preventing and combating corruption, such as: recovering lost and misappropriated assets in criminal cases of corruption and economic crimes; including the declaration and control of declaration of assets and income in the criteria for evaluating cadres, party members and the level of task completion of agencies, organizations, units and heads; handling of untruthfully declared assets, additional assets of unexplained origin; on accountability...

In particular, there is content that can be institutionalized right in the draft Law such as "including the declaration and control of declaration of assets and income into the criteria for evaluating cadres, party members and the level of task completion of agencies, organizations, units and heads" in Conclusion No. 105-KL/TW./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

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