Directive No. 01/2000/CT-BTP On the Implementation of Key Tasks for the Year 2000 of the Justice Sector

DIRECTIVE

Regarding the implementation of key tasks

in 2000 of the Judicial Sector

____________

In 1999, amidst the challenges and difficulties facing the country, the staff of the Judicial Sector made significant efforts to overcome difficulties and effectively implement the sector's work programs; organized the dissemination and implementation of Party Resolutions; contributed to the implementation of the Resolution on economic and social tasks for 1999, the Law Building Program of the tenth National Assembly session, and the Work Program for 1999 of the Government.

Achieving these results was due to the entire sector concentrating its strength, intelligence, unity, and consistency, implementing a step-by-step reform in management and operational guidance, correctly identifying key tasks as outlined in Directive No. 03 dated March 8, 1999, issued by the Minister of Justice; improving working methods, establishing and implementing work regulations.

These changes and advancements have created a new momentum for continuing to complete the Work Program for 2000 and subsequent years.

However, alongside these changes, progress, and achievements, compared with the requirements set forth in Directive No. 03 dated March 8, 1999, and the Work Program proposed for the year, some tasks were still implemented slowly, and certain areas did not see fundamental changes. The main reasons were that the proactive, initiative, and emphasis on roles and responsibilities of each agency, unit, and individual were not fully and consistently promoted; guidance, management, inspection, and urging were insufficiently comprehensive, thorough, and timely. These limitations and issues need to be seriously reviewed and resolved.

The year 2000 is of great historical significance for our country, marking many important anniversaries.

For the Judicial Sector, 2000 marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of the Judicial Sector of Vietnam (August 28, 1945 - August 28, 2000), and the first year of organizing the National Competition Congress of the Sector.

On this occasion of the New Year, the entire sector is delighted to receive the instructions of General Secretary Le Kha Phieu through his New Year greeting letter to the Legal Newspaper: "The judicial agencies bear heavy and noble responsibilities: to uphold the rule of law. When the rule of law is strict, the nation's foundation is solid. Judicial officers and staff must be exemplary in discipline. This is a strict requirement and the wish of all our compatriots." The New Year greetings from Comrade General Secretary are also a major directive, assigning the responsibility to strive for the entire Judicial Sector - a responsibility not only for 2000 but for many years ahead. It is also a major direction, both urgent and long-term, which the entire sector must strive to achieve.

Facing increasingly heavy responsibilities entrusted by the Party and State, all staff of the Judicial Sector are determined to strive, enhance their sense of responsibility, and bring about a fundamental change in judicial work, preparing for the new century.

To ensure the completion of the Work Program for 2000, the Minister of Justice instructs the entire sector to focus on directing and implementing the following key tasks:

I. KEY TASKS AND ORGANIZATIONAL MEASURES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

1. Implementation of the Criminal Code.

Concentrate on preparing all necessary conditions for the implementation of the National Assembly's Resolution, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly's Resolution, and the Prime Minister's Directive on the implementation of the new Criminal Code effective July 1, 2000.

Collaborate with relevant agencies to urgently review current guidelines for implementing the Criminal Code to promptly amend, supplement, or issue new documents; develop guidelines for implementing the Criminal Code.

Widely disseminate and promote among cadres and the public the basic contents of the Criminal Code. Launch a nationwide competition to understand the Criminal Code. Combine the dissemination and promotion of the Code with the review of compliance with laws within the sector and each agency and unit. Each cadre and civil servant in the sector has the responsibility to voluntarily study and research the Code to serve as a model in complying with and properly applying it.

Coordinate with relevant agencies to organize specialized training on the Criminal Code for Judges, People's Assessors, Prosecutors, Investigators, Enforcement Officers, and other judicial personnel to ensure consistent application of the Criminal Code according to the unified guidance of central internal affairs agencies.

Review teaching materials related to Criminal Law and related subjects in schools to plan timely supplements and amendments to align with the Criminal Code.

2. Bringing about a fundamental change in civil enforcement work.

Focus on implementing the Prime Minister's directives on measures to resolve pending cases; resolutely reduce the number of pending cases and increase the execution rate more than in 1999. Concentrate on guiding the good execution of major and landmark cases. Local judicial agencies must play a role in advising local party committees and governments to strengthen civil enforcement work.

Conduct reviews, draw lessons from management, guidance, and business operation enforcement work; inspect compliance with enforcement business regulations, focusing on self-inspection combined with cross-inspection between enforcement agencies and regular and surprise inspections by Departments of Justice and the Ministry. Based on inspection results, promptly compile experience materials and widely disseminate them throughout the sector to avoid business errors in enforcement. Promptly address difficulties and obstacles in enforcement operations.

Implement well the independent state-level research topic: Scientific and practical basis for reforming organization and activities in enforcement in the new period.

3. Building a clean and strong judicial workforce.

Partially address the shortage of staff and lack of expertise in some parts, agencies, and units within the sector. Enhance the capabilities, qualifications, and professional integrity of the sector's staff.

Implement the training and professional development system, updating and supplementing legal knowledge, retraining for the judicial staff and enforcement officers, especially in localities lacking judges and enforcement officers; develop programs for the professional development of other judicial positions and the entire workforce within the Sector.

Complete the drafting of the following projects: Honorary Titles for Judges; Code of Conduct for Judges, Enforcement Officers, and Lawyers; Integrity Allowance System for Judicial Positions to be submitted to competent authorities for issuance.

Strengthen discipline and order in judicial activities. All units within the Sector must effectively carry out self-inspection and inspection work; enhance inspection activities regarding professional matters and the implementation of issued regulations. Consolidate and improve the Inspectorate of the Ministry and Provincial Inspectorates; promote the role of the People's Inspection Committees. Each unit must properly manage and educate political ideology, ethics, and lifestyle for the workforce, serving as exemplary models in adhering to discipline and national laws.

4. Improve organizational structure and vigorously reform administrative procedures within the Sector.

The entire Sector strictly implements Decision No. 207/1999/QĐ-TTg dated October 25, 1999, of the Prime Minister on the plan to implement Resolution of the 7th Plenary Session (8th term), focusing on reviewing and adjusting functions, tasks, improving organizational structures, and arranging personnel according to job titles and professional standards. Complete the planning of the workforce throughout the Sector and each unit by 2005.

Complete and submit to the Government for issuance a Decree replacing Decree 38/CP on the functions, tasks, powers, and organization of the Ministry of Justice. Issue a Joint Circular replacing Circular No. 12/TTLT on the functions, tasks, powers, and organization of local judicial agencies.

Review and abolish cumbersome administrative procedures in enforcement and judicial support activities. Pay attention to utilizing research results and recommendations from scientific topics for practical application in the organization and operation of the Sector.

Focus on guiding grassroots judicial work. Conduct a review of seven years of implementing the principle of focusing on grassroots levels, build plans, and continue to strongly implement this important principle in the coming years.

Continue to improve and consolidate the organizational structure of the School of Judicial Positions.

Prepare all conditions to soon establish new judicial institutions to fully meet the judicial needs of the State and society, particularly in economic development areas; draft the project to establish a National Registration Center for Secured Transactions; complete the project to establish a Legal Publishing House to be reviewed and decided by competent authorities.

Widely publicize the Business Law Club; organize the Congress of the Business Law Club and effectively implement its program of activities from the outset.

5. Continuously create significant changes in legal education and dissemination work.

Fully exploit and promote the comprehensive strength of the mechanism for coordinating the activities of the Steering Committee for Legal Education and Dissemination at all levels.

Enhance the capacity of citizens to access legal information; basically complete the construction of Legal Libraries at communes, towns, and wards; implement the compilation and distribution of the "Legal News Brief" to grassroots levels; widely deploy the construction and exploitation of the national database on laws.

6. Improve the quality of drafting and reviewing to ensure the constitutionality, legality, and feasibility of regulatory legal documents.

Fully implement the Prime Minister's guidance at the Government meeting on December 30 and 31, 1999, on rectifying the issuance of regulatory legal documents.

Organize the drafting work well, enhancing the quality of building regulatory legal documents and projects assigned to lead.

Proactively and promptly issue guiding and directing documents of the Sector for urgent issues arising from management and operational activities of the Sector and localities.

Particularly focus on the quality of reviews and comments on draft regulatory legal documents.

Judicial bodies and Legal Departments must proactively play their advisory roles and assist People's Councils and People's Committees at the same level in monitoring the implementation of laws and managing the issuance of regulatory legal documents.

Complete the comprehensive review of legal documents over 20 years (1976-1996) as per Decision No. 355/TTg of the Prime Minister; regularly review legal documents and promptly propose solutions to relevant agencies.

Units under the Ministry must concentrate on researching and developing projects assigned to prepare and implement in the Program of Cooperation among Internal Affairs Agencies.

7. Improve the quality of service in judicial support work.

Judicial support activities must promptly meet the increasing and diverse needs of society, facilitating citizens. Staff in judicial support organizations must enhance their sense of responsibility and wholeheartedly serve the people.

Urgently address issues and proposals raised during the training sessions on civil status and nationality in three regions in 1999. Organize a mid-term review of five years of implementing Decree 184/CP on civil status involving foreign elements and draft a revised decree to be submitted to the Government.

Judicial agencies in Central Vietnam must focus on overcoming the aftermath of typhoons and floods, prioritizing the issuance of birth certificates and copies thereof for students to meet the requirements for exam preparation before the 2000 examination season.

Further strengthen management and supervision of legal consultation activities by social organizations; operations of Bar Associations; and the practice of foreign lawyers' branches in Vietnam.

Promptly address demands for criminal history certificates, urgently draft a Decree on criminal history certificates to be submitted to the Government.

Addressing difficulties in auction procedures; promptly detecting and handling violations in auction activities, drafting a Decree to amend and supplement Decree 86/CP on centralized auction activities.

Completing the establishment of Legal Aid Centers in all provinces and cities; expanding the operations of these centers; enhancing mobile legal aid work combined with the dissemination and education of laws.

8. Management of local People's Courts.

Strengthening legal knowledge and trial skills for judges and lay assessors. Improving the quality of trials, minimizing the maximum number of judgments and decisions that are revoked or revised, ensuring innocent people are not wrongfully convicted, and preventing criminals from going unpunished.

Summarizing the implementation of the organization and operation of lay assessors, issuing relevant documents or proposing competent authorities to issue documents regarding the management mechanism of lay assessors.

9. International legal work and international cooperation must effectively serve the process of integration with countries in the region and worldwide, completing related tasks concerning international law and international justice assigned to the Justice sector.

Concentrating on reinforcing and strengthening the staff and activities of the ASEAN, APEC, and WTO Working Groups. Reviewing and evaluating progress in implementing international cooperation projects and programs, ensuring compliance with agreements and commitments made with partner sides.

Continuing to fulfill the advisory role in assisting the Government in managing foreign cooperation in legal matters.

10. Vigorously promoting legal work in ministries, sectors, state agencies, economic organizations, and social organizations.

Further improving the organizational structure of legal departments in state agencies, political-social organizations, and central-level social organizations; establishing legal departments at provincial departments and economic organizations.

Enhancing the quality of legal work in various aspects, particularly in drafting, reviewing, and scrutinizing documents, disseminating, and educating about laws.

Summarizing three years of implementing Decree 94/CP on the organization of legal departments; recommending amendments and supplements to this Decree.

Strengthening guidance on professional practices and exchanging experiences in judicial and legal work.

11. Vigorously launching movements to achieve outstanding results to celebrate major national holidays and traditional days of the Vietnamese Justice sector; organizing grassroots and full-sector meetings, aiming towards the National Model Worker Congress at the end of 2000. Initiating competitions at the grassroots level for "Excellent Mediators," "Outstanding Law Propagandists," "Legal Bulletin Competitions," and sports and cultural events to welcome the various levels of competition.

Organizing lessons learned from directing commendation and reward work in the past year; adjusting, supplementing, and perfecting criteria for scoring, assessing, and evaluating commendations and reward work, and guiding documents for such work.

II. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DIRECTIVE

1. On the basis of the contents outlined in this Directive and the practical situation in their locality, the Chief Judges of Provincial People's Courts and Directors of Provincial Justice Departments must concretize these into plans and tasks for their units' 2000 work with a spirit of innovation; selecting some units to build pilot points, identifying key breakthroughs in specific areas of work to draw practical lessons for wider application. Provincial People's Courts and Justice Departments must focus on thinking about methods and measures to effectively implement the tasks and work of the Ministry and the Sector. Strengthening supervision and inspection; promptly identifying difficulties and inadequacies during implementation, reflecting them to the Ministry for timely adjustment and supplementation to suit local and grassroots realities.

2. Heads of units under the Ministry must proactively organize the implementation of tasks assigned to their units, coordinating with relevant units to guide local Justice agencies and People's Courts to effectively implement the tasks assigned in this Directive with the spirit of "Proactivity, Creativity, Orientation towards Localities and Grassroots - For Localities and Grassroots"; bearing primary responsibility for leading and coordinating with related units within the Ministry to guide, monitor, and inspect the implementation of this Directive in their jurisdiction and report to the Ministry Leadership.

3. Rectifying information and reporting work within the Sector to promptly serve leadership and management. Units under the Ministry, Provincial People's Courts, and Justice Departments must strictly and fully comply with information and reporting systems. When new normative legal documents are issued, or when the Ministry issues directive documents for business operations, units under the Ministry's jurisdiction have the responsibility to promptly send these documents to Provincial People's Courts, Justice Departments, enforcement agencies, and judicial auxiliary organizations for implementation.

4. Comrades in the Ministry Leadership must strengthen inspections, urging, directing, and handling work in a timely manner in the fields they are responsible for, creating conditions for units under the Ministry, local People's Courts, and judicial agencies to complete their 2000 work program and tasks.

5. The Ministry Office will oversee and urge the implementation of this Directive, regularly compiling progress and results of its implementation to report to the Minister.

This Directive must be thoroughly understood and implemented by all cadres and civil servants in the Justice sector./.