Circular No. 04/2021/TT-TTCP on the procedure for receiving citizens

CIRCULAR
REGULATIONS ON PROCEDURES FOR RECEIVING CITIZENS

Pursuant to the Law on Petition dated November 11, 2011;

Pursuant to the Law on Receiving Citizens dated November 25, 2013;

Pursuant to the Law on Complaints dated June 12, 2018;

Pursuant to Decree No. 64/2014/NĐ-CP dated June 26, 2014 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Receiving Citizens; Pursuant to Decree No. 31/2019/NĐ-CP dated April 10, 2019 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Law on Complaints;

At the proposal of the Head of the Central Citizen Reception Board and the Director of the Legal Department;

Pursuant to Decree No. 124/2020/NĐ-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government detailing certain provisions and measures for the implementation of the Law on Complaints;

Pursuant to Decree No. 50/2018/NĐ-CP dated April 9, 2018 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Government Inspectorate;

The Government Inspector General issues this Circular regulating procedures for receiving citizens.

This Circular regulates procedures for receiving citizens who come to lodge complaints, make accusations, submit proposals, or provide feedback at citizen reception offices of agencies, organizations, units responsible for receiving citizens as stipulated in Points a, b, c, and d Clause 1 Article 4 of the Law on Receiving Citizens and government agencies, public service units as stipulated in Decree No. 64/2014/NĐ-CP dated June 26, 2014 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Receiving Citizens.

PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

1. Administrative state agencies, government agencies, public service units (hereinafter referred to collectively as agencies or units), heads of agencies or units, and citizen receivers.

Article 2. Applicability

2. Citizens lodging complaints, making accusations, submitting proposals, or providing feedback who present themselves directly at the Citizen Reception Office or citizen reception location.

3. Agencies, organizations, and individuals related to citizen reception work.

Article 3. Purpose of receiving citizens

1. Guide citizens to exercise their rights to lodge complaints, make accusations, submit proposals, or provide feedback in accordance with the law, contributing to the dissemination and popularization of laws.

2. Receive complaints, accusations, proposals, or feedback within the jurisdiction of the head of the agency or unit for consideration and resolution in accordance with the law.

Article 4. Refusal to receive citizens

The citizen receiver may refuse to receive citizens in cases prescribed in Clause 1 and Clause 2 Article 9 of the Law on Receiving Citizens and must explain to the citizen the reason for refusal, while simultaneously reporting to the person in charge of citizen reception.

In cases where refusal to receive citizens is prescribed in Clause 3 Article 9 of the Law on Receiving Citizens, the head of the agency or unit responsible for citizen reception shall issue a Notice of Refusal to Receive Citizens. The notice shall be implemented according to Model No. 01 attached hereto.

RECEIVING COMPLAINANTS, ACCUSERS, PROPOSERS, AND FEEDBACK PROVIDERS

Chapter II
IDENTIFYING THE IDENTITY OF COMPLAINANTS, ACCUSERS, PROPOSERS, AND FEEDBACK PROVIDERS AND THE LEGALITY OF REPRESENTATIVES AS PROVIDED BY LAW

Section 1
Article 5. Identifying the identity of complainants, accusers, proposers, and feedback providers

1. When receiving a complainant, the citizen receiver requests them to clearly state their name, address, and to produce identification documents, introduction letters, or power of attorney (if applicable).

2. When receiving an accuser, proposer, or feedback provider, the citizen receiver requests the accuser, proposer, or feedback provider to clearly state their name, address, and to produce identification documents.

During the process of receiving an accuser, the citizen receiver must keep confidential the name, address, and handwriting of the accuser in accordance with the law on complaints.

Article 6. Determining the legality of representatives, authorized persons, lawyers, or legal aid assistants

1. In cases where an agency or organization lodges a complaint through a representative who is the head of the agency or organization, the citizen receiver requests the representative to produce an introduction letter and identification documents.

In cases where the head of the agency or organization authorizes a representative in accordance with the law to lodge a complaint, the citizen receiver requests the authorized person to produce identification documents and the authorization letter from the authorizing party.

2. In cases where the person presenting the complaint is a representative or authorized person of the complainant as stipulated in Point a Clause 1 Article 12 of the Law on Complaints, the citizen receiver requests the production of documents proving lawful representation or other relevant documents.

If the person presenting the complaint is a lawful representative or authorized person, the citizen receiver proceeds with the reception procedures as for the complainant.

3. In cases where the complainant authorizes a lawyer or legal aid assistant to lodge a complaint, the citizen receiver requests the lawyer or legal aid assistant to produce a Lawyer's Card, Legal Aid Assistant's Card, and Complaint Authorization Letter.

4. In cases where the citizen does not have an authorization letter or the authorization does not comply with Point a or Point b Clause 1 Article 12 of the Law on Complaints, the citizen receiver will not accept the case file and clearly explain the reason, guiding the citizen to complete necessary procedures to lodge a complaint in accordance with the law.

In the case where a citizen does not have a power of attorney or the power of attorney does not comply with the provisions of points a and b, Clause 1, Article 12 of the Petition Law, the person receiving the citizen shall not accept the case file and clearly explain the reason, guiding the citizen to complete the necessary procedures to lodge a petition in accordance with the regulations.

Mục 2. RECEIVING, CLASSIFYING, HANDLING COMPLAINTS, REPORTS, PETITIONS, AND REFLECTIONS

Article 7. Receiving complaints, reports, petitions, and reflections

1. When citizens come to present directly without a complaint form, the person receiving the citizen shall guide the citizen to write a complaint form or record fully, truthfully, and accurately the content presented by the citizen; for unclear content, the person shall request the citizen to provide additional information, then read it back to the citizen and ask them to sign or affix their fingerprint to confirm the document.

2. In cases where citizens come to present with specific, clear content that can be clearly determined regarding the nature of the case and the competent authority responsible for resolution, the person receiving the citizen shall guide the citizen to submit the complaint form to the competent authority for consideration and resolution in accordance with the law.

3. In cases where multiple people come to complain, report, petition, or reflect on the same content, the person receiving the citizen shall guide them to elect a representative to present; record the content presented and request the representative to sign or affix their fingerprint to confirm the document.

4. In cases where citizens present multiple contents, including both complaints and reports, petitions, or reflections, the person receiving the citizen shall guide the citizen to handle complaints, reports, petitions, and reflections in accordance with the law.

5. The act of receiving and recording the content of complaints, reports, petitions, and reflections and guiding citizens to write complaint forms must be recorded in the Citizen Reception Book or entered into the citizen reception database software.

Article 8. Classifying and Handling Complaints, Reports, Petitions, and Reflections

1. The classification and handling of the content of complaints, reports, petitions, and reflections are based on the records of the presented content or the complaint forms of citizens and implemented according to Circular No. 05/2021/TT-TTCP dated October 1, 2021, issued by the Government Inspectorate, which stipulates the procedures for handling complaint forms, report forms, petition forms, and reflection forms.

2. If the content presented does not fall within the jurisdiction of the receiving agency or unit, the person receiving the citizen shall guide the citizen to write a complaint form to send to the competent agency or organization for resolution.

In cases where the content falls within the jurisdiction of the agency or unit itself, the person receiving the citizen shall receive the relevant information, documents, and evidence provided by the citizen for reporting to the competent authority for resolution. If the citizen provides information, documents, and evidence related to complaints, reports, petitions, and reflections, the person receiving the citizen shall consider and accept such information, documents, and evidence. The receipt of information, documents, and evidence shall be carried out using a receipt form according to Form No. 02 attached hereto.

Chapter III
CITIZEN RECEPTION AND MANAGEMENT, MONITORING OF CITIZEN RECEPTION BY HEADS OF AGENCIES AND UNITS

Article 9. Responsibilities of Heads of Agencies and Units in Directly Receiving Citizens

1. Heads of agencies and units must directly receive citizens to listen, examine, resolve, and direct the resolution of complaints, reports, petitions, and reflections within their jurisdiction or within the jurisdiction of subordinate heads of agencies and units in citizen reception work, handling complaint forms, and resolving complaints, reports, petitions, and reflections.

Heads of agencies and units have the responsibility to regularly or urgently receive citizens as prescribed by the Law on Citizen Reception and to inspect and urge the post-reception handling of complaints, reports, petitions, and reflections by agencies and units.

2. The citizen reception activities of heads of agencies and units must be fully recorded in the Citizen Reception Book or entered into the national database on citizen reception, complaint resolution, report resolution, petition resolution, and reflection resolution, or citizen reception management software, and stored at the reception location. The directives of heads of agencies and units in resolving complaints, reports, petitions, and reflections at the reception office must be documented and sent to relevant agencies, organizations, and units for implementation in accordance with the requirements and content of the directives; appropriate resolution deadlines must be set in accordance with the law, and the responsible agencies, organizations, and units must send the resolution results to the citizens.

3. During citizen reception, if the case is clear, specific, has a basis, and falls within the resolution jurisdiction, the head of the agency or unit must immediately inform the citizen; if the case is complex and requires study and examination, the resolution deadline and the person to contact for the resolution result must be clearly stated.

4. At the end of the citizen reception activity, the head of the agency or unit issues a conclusion announcement on the citizen reception activity.

Article 10. Responsibilities of the Citizen Reception Board, civil servants, officials assigned to assist the head of the agency or unit in receiving citizens, and the responsibilities of related agencies and units

1. The Citizen Reception Board, civil servants, officials assigned to assist the head of the agency or unit in receiving citizens, and the State Inspectorate or the People's Committee Office at the same level shall be responsible for:

a) Arranging the citizen reception activities of the head of the agency or unit and informing relevant agencies and units; prioritizing complaints, reports, suggestions, and reflections involving large groups of people, complex issues, and long-standing cases;

b) Assigning personnel to record the content of citizen receptions;

c) Preparing other necessary conditions for the head of the agency or unit to carry out citizen reception activities.

2. Agencies and units related to the content of complaints, reports, suggestions, and reflections shall be responsible for:

a) Assigning leaders of the agency or unit to participate in citizen receptions to fulfill requests assigned by the head of the agency or unit;

b) Assigning civil servants or officials to record the content of citizen receptions, receive information and documents provided by citizens;

c) Preparing all relevant information and documents concerning the content of complaints, reports, suggestions, and reflections that the head of the agency or unit will address during citizen receptions.

3. Upon completion of citizen receptions, related agencies and units shall be responsible for assisting the head of the agency or unit in preparing responses to citizens.

In cases where the matter involves the responsibility of multiple levels or sectors, the State Inspectorate at the same level shall be responsible for coordinating with competent agencies, units, and individuals to study and analyze the nature, severity, and causes of the matter to propose solutions, while preparing documents for the head of the agency or unit to respond to citizens.

Article 11. Monitoring and Managing Citizen Receptions

Citizen receptions for complaints, reports, suggestions, and reflections must be recorded in the Citizen Reception Logbook or entered into the National Database on Citizen Reception, Complaint Resolution, Report Handling, Suggestions, and Reflections, or management software for citizen reception work.

The Citizen Reception Logbook shall be implemented according to Model No. 03 issued together with this Circular.

Chapter IV
IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 12. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from November 15, 2021.

2. Circular No. 06/2014/TT-TTCP dated October 31, 2014 of the Government Inspectorate prescribing the procedures for citizen receptions shall cease to be effective from the date this Circular comes into force.

3. During implementation, if there are difficulties, obstacles, or new issues arise, relevant agencies, organizations, units, and individuals are requested to promptly report to the Government Inspectorate for appropriate amendments and supplements.