On the morning of April 28, continuing the 44th Session, under the direction of Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

Amendments and supplements to regulations affected by organizational restructuring

Reporting at the meeting, Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh stated that the purpose of promulgating the Law is to amend and supplement the provisions of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations affected by the arrangement and organization of the apparatus, ensuring that the system of agencies and competent persons operate continuously, smoothly, and without interruption.

At the same time, continue to implement decentralization and delegation of authority in sanctioning administrative violations; enhancing the application of information technology, digital transformation and simplifying administrative violation handling procedures; promptly overcoming basic and general limitations and shortcomings in the process of implementing the Law in recent times.

The Draft Law amends and supplements the content of 64/143 articles (including amending and supplementing 26/143 articles, technically amending 22/143 articles (in addition to the amended and supplemented articles), abolishing 16 articles of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations) and adding 1 new article.

Regarding the amended and supplemented contents, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh said that the specific regulations on the authority to sanction administrative violations of each position in Articles 38 to 51 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations are no longer consistent with the changes when organize the apparatus.

Therefore, to ensure flexibility and suitability to the new situation, Clause 4, Article 1 of the draft Law is expected to add 1 article on the authority to sanction administrative violations, stipulate the titles and systems of forces with the authority to sanction administrative violations and assign the Government to specify in detail the titles with the authority to sanction.

At the same time, Clause 31, Article 1 of the draft Law is expected to abolish 16 provisions on the authority to handle administrative violations of each position in the current Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

In addition, the draft Law also promotes the empowerment of the National Assembly Standing Committee and the Government to specify the positions with the authority to impose penalties; the authority to impose fines, apply forms of penalties, and remedial measures for each position based on the force system; the specific positions have been stipulated in the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

Focus on revising contents serving the reorganization of the state apparatus

Presenting his review opinion, Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee Hoang Thanh Tung said that the Committee agrees with the necessity of amending and supplementing the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations for the reasons stated in the Government's Submission.

The Committee on Law and Justice proposed to clearly define the scope of amendments as contents serving the arrangement of the state apparatus and the implementation of a two-level local government to suit the context of the 9th Session; not amending the contents on the statute of limitations for penalties and maximum fines because these are contents that have a great impact on the rights of individuals and organizations, while there has not been a full summary and assessment of the impact, but continuing to study to comprehensively amend this Law, as planned at the 10th Session.

Regarding the statute of limitations for handling administrative violations, the examining agency agreed to increase the statute of limitations for handling administrative violations for violations transferred by the prosecution agency to overcome past difficulties and to add the statute of limitations for handling violations related to handling complaints, denunciations, recommendations and reflections to implement the request of competent authorities. At the same time, it proposed not to amend the regulations on the statute of limitations for handling violations of road traffic order and safety from 1 year to 3 years.

Regarding the maximum fines in various fields, the Committee on Law and Justice agrees to add fields and maximum fines for violations in handling complaints, denunciations, recommendations and reflections to implement the requirements of competent authorities.

Regarding the proposal to add some new fields, it is recommended to clarify the reasons for the addition and the basis for determining the maximum fine in each field. Regarding the increase in the maximum fine for some fields that have been stipulated in the current Law, it is recommended to continue to study and make appropriate proposals when comprehensively amending the Law.

The draft Law dossier is eligible to be submitted to the National Assembly at the 9th Session.

During the discussion, opinions agreed to amend and supplement the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations in order to promptly institutionalize the Party's policy on streamlining the organization of the political system, organizing two-level local governments; promoting decentralization and delegation of power. At the same time, overcoming some common limitations and shortcomings of the current Law; ensuring consistency and unity with related laws, especially laws on state apparatus organization.

In addition, opinions also suggested clarifying a number of regulations related to the scope of amendments and supplements, statute of limitations for handling administrative violations, maximum fines in various fields, authority to handle administrative violations...

Concluding the meeting, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh stated that the National Assembly Standing Committee highly appreciated the drafting agency and the appraisal agency for their close coordination and preparation of the draft Law dossier, which was complete, in accordance with regulations, ensuring quality, and meeting the conditions for submission to the National Assembly for consideration and approval at the 9th Session according to the shortened procedures.

Regarding some specific contents of the draft Law, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly said that, regarding the scope of amendments and supplements, the National Assembly Standing Committee proposed to focus on amending only urgent issues that are truly necessary to serve the arrangement of the state apparatus, implement a two-level local government, promote decentralization and delegation of power, and closely follow the requirements of innovative thinking in law-making. Other contents are proposed to continue to be studied for comprehensive amendments at the 10th Session.

Regarding the statute of limitations for penalties, the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed to increase the statute of limitations for penalties for violations transferred by the prosecution agency to overcome past difficulties and to supplement the statute of limitations for penalties for violations in handling complaints, denunciations, recommendations, and reflections at the request of competent authorities.

At the same time, it is recommended to continue researching, summarizing, and carefully evaluating to propose amending the statute of limitations for penalties for violations of road traffic order and safety when comprehensively amending the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

Regarding the maximum fines in various fields, the National Assembly Standing Committee agrees to add fields and maximum fines for violations in handling complaints, denunciations, recommendations and reflections; and requests clarification of the reasons for the addition and the basis for determining the maximum fines in the new fields.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh also noted and carefully considered the addition of regulations on handling exhibits and means temporarily seized under administrative procedures, ensuring strictness and harmony with the requirement to respect citizens' property rights protected by the Constitution.