Joint Circular No. 01/2007/TTLT-BTP-BNV guiding the organization and staff of Civil Enforcement Offices at provincial level under centrally governed cities

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines on the organization and staff of the Civil Enforcement Agency of provinces and centrally governed cities

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Pursuant to Decree No. 62/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Justice;

Pursuant to Decree No. 45/2003/NĐ-CP dated May 9, 2003 of the Government on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Home Affairs,

To implement Decree No. 50/2005/NĐ-CP dated April 11, 2005 of the Government on civil enforcement agencies, civil enforcement offices, and staff performing civil enforcement tasks, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Home Affairs issue guidelines on the organization of the Civil Enforcement Agency of provinces and centrally governed cities (hereinafter referred to collectively as the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency) as follows:

I. ORGANIZATION OF THE PROVINCIAL CIVIL ENFORCEMENT AGENCY

1. The provincial Civil Enforcement Agency has departments under its direct management to assist the Director of the Civil Enforcement Agency of provinces and centrally governed cities (hereinafter referred to collectively as the Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency) in carrying out the tasks and powers of their unit as prescribed by law. The number of departments under the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency must be based on the volume and complexity of enforcement cases, the area of management, and other related factors, but shall not exceed three departments. Notably, the Civil Enforcement Agency of Hanoi City and Ho Chi Minh City may establish up to five departments.

2. The establishment, restructuring, and dissolution of departments under the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency shall be carried out in accordance with Decree No. 83/2006/NĐ-CP dated August 17, 2006 of the Government on the procedures and formalities for establishing, restructuring, and dissolving administrative organizations and state-run public service organizations, and this Circular.

3. Functions, tasks, and powers of departments

Based on the tasks and powers of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency stipulated in Article 12 of Decree No. 50/2005/NĐ-CP and the need to allocate staff within the authorized quota, the Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency proposes the establishment of specialized departments suitable to the actual situation of the locality, but must ensure the structure and the division of responsibilities. The tasks and powers of specialized departments are as follows:

a) The organizational and administrative department assists the Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency in implementing tasks and powers related to personnel management, administrative management, accounting and finance, property management, statistics, archives, commendation, and other tasks assigned by the Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency;

b) The enforcement operations and organization department assists the Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency in guiding and directing enforcement operations and organizing the execution of judgments and decisions within their jurisdiction and other tasks assigned by the Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency;

c) The inspection, complaint, and accusation resolution department assists the Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency in conducting inspection work and resolving complaints and accusations regarding enforcement within their jurisdiction and other tasks assigned by the Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency.

For localities where it is not necessarily required to establish three specialized departments as directed in points a, b, and c of this clause due to organizational and operational requirements, the task of inspection, complaint, and accusation resolution shall be carried out by the enforcement operations and organization department.

Specifically, for the Civil Enforcement Agency of Hanoi City and Ho Chi Minh City, if the need arises to establish four or five specialized departments, separate departments may be established to handle tasks related to personnel management and accounting and finance.

The Minister of Justice delegates the authority to the Director of the Civil Enforcement Department under the Ministry of Justice to decide on the establishment, restructuring, and dissolution of specialized departments based on the proposal of the Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency.

4. Tasks and powers of the Head of Department and Deputy Head of Department

a) The Head of Department is the head and is responsible for managing the work of the department, with the following tasks and powers:

- General guidance on the organization and implementation of the tasks and powers of the department;

- Organizing the development and implementation of the work plan of the department they oversee;

- Assigning specific tasks and supervising the performance of duties and powers of staff within the department;

- Reporting and making recommendations to the Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency on the organizational and operational status of the department;

- Other tasks assigned by the Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency;

The Deputy Head of Department performs certain tasks and powers as assigned by the Head of Department.

In addition to the tasks mentioned above, the Head of Department and Deputy Head of Department, if they are also provincial enforcement officers, must perform the rights and obligations of enforcement officers as prescribed by law and other specific tasks assigned by the Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency; they must not interfere or influence the independence of enforcement officers under their supervision when such officers carry out their duties and powers as prescribed by law.

The Head of Department is responsible before the Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency and the law for the tasks assigned to them.

The Deputy Head of Department is responsible before the Head of Department and the law for the tasks assigned to them.

b) The Minister of Justice delegates the authority to the Director of the Civil Enforcement Department to appoint the Heads and Deputy Heads of Departments under the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency based on the proposal of the Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency.

The appointment, reappointment, and removal of Heads and Deputy Heads of Departments must meet the professional position standards; ensure the procedures and formalities prescribed by law and this Circular.

c) Position allowances for Heads and Deputy Heads of Departments are as follows:

II. STAFF QUOTA OF THE PROVINCIAL CIVIL ENFORCEMENT AGENCY

1. Staff within the quota of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency include:

a) Director of Civil Enforcement, Deputy Director of Civil Enforcement of provinces and centrally governed cities:

- The Director of the provincial Civil Enforcement Agency is the head, and concurrently serves as a provincial enforcement officer.

- Deputy Director of Civil Enforcement at the provincial level, who is also an enforcement officer at the provincial level. The Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level has from one to two Deputy Directors of Civil Enforcement. For the Civil Enforcement Office in Hanoi City and Ho Chi Minh City, there shall be no more than three Deputy Directors of Civil Enforcement.

The Director of Civil Enforcement and Deputy Director of Civil Enforcement, in addition to the tasks and powers assigned to them, must also perform the rights and obligations of enforcement officers as prescribed by law; they may not interfere or influence the independence of enforcement officers when such officers carry out their duties and powers as prescribed by law.

b) Heads and Deputy Heads of specialized departments: Specialized departments have a Head and one Deputy Head (in exceptional cases, not more than two Deputy Heads).

c) Provincial-level enforcement officers: The Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level must have at least five provincial-level enforcement officers (excluding the Director and Deputy Director who are provincial-level enforcement officers), but not more than two-thirds of the total number of staff positions of that agency.

For provinces and cities where provincial-level enforcement officers are transferred or rotated to Civil Enforcement Offices at the district level, there must be at least three provincial-level enforcement officers (excluding the Director and Deputy Director who are provincial-level enforcement officers). However, the number of provincial-level enforcement officers must be replenished within a maximum period of twelve months from the date of the decision on the transfer or rotation of provincial-level enforcement officers.

d) Reviewers, chief reviewers, specialists, chief specialists: The Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level must have reviewers, chief reviewers, specialists, and chief specialists.

The appointment to the position of reviewer, chief reviewer, and chief specialist is decided by the Minister of Justice; the appointment to the position of specialist is decided by the Director of the Department of Justice upon delegation by the Minister of Justice.

đ) Accountants and cashiers: The Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level must have at least one accountant in the field of administrative financial affairs, one accounting officer for enforcement operations, and one cashier (when necessary, also serves as a warehouse keeper).

e) Clerical staff and archival personnel: The Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level must have at least one person serving as clerical staff or archival personnel.

g) Drivers: Drivers in the administrative establishment of the Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level are those recruited before the effective date of Decree No. 25/CP dated May 23, 1993.

The Director of the Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level may enter into labor contracts with drivers according to Decree No. 68/2000/NĐ-CP on implementing the system of contracts for certain types of work in state administrative agencies and public service units.

2. Based on the requirements for organization and operation and on the basis of the staffing quota assigned by the Minister of Home Affairs to local civil enforcement agencies, the Minister of Justice delegates the Director of the Civil Enforcement Bureau under the Ministry of Justice to allocate specific staffing quotas for the Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level, but it must ensure a minimum staffing quota of twenty positions for each unit (except for the Civil Enforcement Office in Hanoi City and Ho Chi Minh City, which must have a minimum staffing quota of forty positions for each unit).

III. IMPLEMENTATION

1. Based on the provisions of Clause 1 of Section I and Section II of this Circular, the Director of the Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level shall proactively develop an organizational plan for the Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level and report it to the Director of the Department of Justice for comments in writing before submitting it to the Director of the Civil Enforcement Bureau under the Ministry of Justice for consideration and decision.

2. The Director of the Department of Justice is responsible for urging the Director of the Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level to develop a plan to improve the organization and staffing of the Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level in accordance with this Circular. To ensure a source of leadership cadres and enforcement officers for the Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level, from now until 2010, the transfer or rotation of cadres and civil servants working in civil enforcement agencies to other units will be limited.

3. The Director of the Civil Enforcement Bureau is responsible for:

a) Organizing the implementation of the tasks and powers assigned regarding the organization and cadres of specialized departments under the Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level in accordance with the law and guidance provided in this Circular;

b) Cooperating with the Director of the Department of Justice in directing and guiding the Civil Enforcement Office at the provincial level to develop and implement plans for training, capacity building, and planning for the appointment, transfer, and rotation of cadres and civil servants in civil enforcement;

c) Strengthening inspections, reviews, and evaluations of the organization and operation of civil enforcement agencies at the local level to propose recommendations to the Minister of Justice and relevant authorities to resolve difficulties and enhance the effectiveness of civil enforcement activities.

4. This Circular takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

During the implementation process, if there are difficulties, obstacles, or suggestions for amendments and supplements to this Circular, please reflect these issues to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Home Affairs for consideration and guidance on implementation./.