Circular No. 08/2007/TT-BTP guides the establishment, management, and use of the Competition and Reward Fund in the Justice Sector.

 

CIRCULAR

Guidelines on the establishment, management, and utilization of

the Award Fund in the Justice Sector

                       

Pursuant to the Law on Encouragement and Reward dated November 26, 2003;

Pursuant to Decree No. 121/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 30, 2005 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Encouragement and Reward and the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Encouragement and Reward;

Pursuant to Circular No. 73/2006/TT-BTC dated August 15, 2006 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the establishment, management, and utilization of the Award Fund according to Decree No. 121/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 30, 2005 of the Government;

The Ministry of Justice issues guidelines on the establishment, management, and utilization of the Award Fund in the Justice Sector as follows:

This technical regulation sets out technical requirements, testing methods, sampling procedures; management requirements; responsibilities of organizations and individuals producing, trading, and importing cigarettes.

1. Object and Scope of Application:

This Circular guides the establishment, management, and utilization of:

a) The centralized Award Fund of the Ministry of Justice.

The centralized Award Fund is assigned and transferred into the account of the Ministry's Office opened at the State Treasury and managed directly by the Department of Encouragement and Reward in coordination with the Ministry's Office.

b) The Award Fund of units under the budget of the Ministry, including units under the Ministry with separate accounts and provincial-level civil execution agencies (hereinafter referred to as provincial-level civil execution agencies).

For units receiving salaries from the account of the Ministry's Office, the encouragement and reward funds belong to the Award Fund of the Ministry's Office shall be managed by the Ministry's Office.

As for public service organizations fully self-financed under the Ministry of Justice, the establishment and utilization of the Reward Fund shall be carried out in accordance with Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006 of the Government stipulating the autonomy and responsibility for implementing tasks, organizational structure, staffing, and finance of public service organizations.

Public service organizations partially self-financed under the Ministry of Justice, in addition to establishing and utilizing the Award Fund in accordance with this Circular, shall also establish and utilize the Reward Fund in accordance with Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006 of the Government.

For the Institute of Legal Science, in addition to establishing and utilizing the Award Fund in accordance with this Circular, it shall also establish and utilize various funds (including the Reward Fund) in accordance with Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2005 of the Government stipulating the mechanism of autonomy and responsibility of public scientific and technological organizations.

2. Principles of Management and Utilization of the Award Fund:

- The head of the agency or unit at which level the decision to award is made shall be responsible for disbursing the prize money accompanying the commendation titles and forms of reward from the Award Fund of that agency or unit.

- In cases where collectives or individuals within the Justice Sector are recommended for awards by the Ministry of Justice and decided upon by the Prime Minister or the President, the Ministry of Justice shall be responsible for allocating funds from the centralized Award Fund of the Ministry to disburse the prizes.

- The Award Fund must be used for its intended purpose, transparently, and annually report on the settlement of fund usage in accordance with current regulations.

- Any remaining balance in the Award Fund at the end of the year that has not been utilized shall be carried over to the next year for continued use in encouragement and reward activities.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

1. Sources of Formation of the Award Fund:

- From the annual state budget allocation approved by the competent authority for the agency or unit.

- From contributions by organizations and individuals both domestically and internationally for the purpose of encouragement and reward (if any).

- From other lawful sources permitted to be allocated (if any).

2. Rate of Establishment of the Award Fund from the State Budget Allocation:

Annually, based on the state budget allocation approved by the competent authority; based on the total salary fund according to rank and grade of the number of officials, civil servants, and employees within the authorized establishment and approved wages for the entire year (excluding the salary fund according to rank and grade of units fully self-financed for regular operational costs); based on the results of the previous year's Award Fund utilization and the projected total expenditure for rewards in the current year, the Ministry of Justice will determine the rate of establishment of the centralized Award Fund of the Ministry and of units under the budget of the Ministry, with a maximum rate equal to 15% of the total salary fund according to rank and grade of the number of officials, civil servants, and employees within the authorized establishment and approved wages mentioned above.

The rate of establishment of the centralized Award Fund and the maximum rate of establishment of the Award Fund of units annually will be determined and announced by the Ministry of Justice (Department of Planning and Finance).

3. Contents of Expenditure from the Award Fund:

a) The centralized Award Fund of the Ministry of Justice:

- Expenditure on items accompanying commendation titles and forms of reward within the authority to award of the Minister of Justice.

- Expenditure on prize money or commemorative gifts accompanying commendation titles and forms of reward for collectives and individuals within the Justice Sector recommended for awards by the Ministry of Justice, according to the award decisions of the President or the Prime Minister.

- Expenditure on prize money or commemorative gifts accompanying commendation titles and forms of reward for collectives and individuals according to the award decisions of the Minister of Justice.

b) The Award Fund of units under the budget of the Ministry:

- Expenditure on items accompanying commendation titles and forms of reward within the authority to award of the head of the unit.

- Expenditure on prize money or commemorative gifts accompanying commendation titles and forms of reward for collectives and individuals according to the award decisions of the head of the unit.

4. Amount of Prize Money Disbursed from the Award Fund:

Implemented in accordance with Articles 69, 70, 71, 73, and 74, Section 3, Chapter V of Decree No. 121/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 30, 2005 of the Government. Specifically:

a) Commendation Titles:

b) Forms of Reward:

Amount of cash reward for individuals:

The amount of cash reward for working collectives is twice the amount of cash reward for individuals.

At the same time, for the same achievement, and the same subject being rewarded, if they achieve different commendations and rewards (from one level or multiple levels of commendation), then they will be awarded the highest cash reward (or accompanying gifts).

At the same time, if a subject achieves multiple commendation titles and different forms of reward (from one level or multiple levels of commendation) due to different periods of dedication and achievements, they will be awarded the corresponding cash rewards for each title and form of reward.

5. Budgeting, auditing, and settling accounts for competition and reward funds:

a) Establishment of budget estimates:

Annually, based on the results of the Competition and Reward Fund implementation in the previous year, the Department of Competition and Reward, in coordination with the Ministry's Office, prepares the budget for the centralized Competition and Reward Fund of the Ministry along with a notice of the balance of the Competition and Reward Fund of the previous year confirmed by the State Treasury where the Ministry's Office has an account, to be sent to the Ministry of Justice (Department of Planning and Finance) for review and determination of the amount to be allocated to the centralized Competition and Reward Fund.

Based on the determined allocation amount, when allocating the annual state budget, the Ministry of Justice will deduct the funding units' expenses to allocate to the centralized Competition and Reward Fund. For units with other types and items (Type 13 Item 01) according to the state budget classification, the Ministry of Justice will notify the allocation amount for units to transfer funds to the Ministry's Office account.

The submission time for the budget for Competition and Reward Fund expenditures is the same as the submission time for the annual state budget.

On the basis of the maximum allocation amount for the Competition and Reward Fund of the unit determined and notified by the Ministry of Justice (Department of Planning and Finance), units implement the allocation, management, and use of their own Competition and Reward Fund according to current laws.

b) Allocation of reward funds and physical rewards and auditing and settling accounts for competition and reward funds:

- When there is a reward decision by the President, the Prime Minister, or the Minister of Justice, the Department of Competition and Reward organizes the distribution of physical rewards and coordinates with the Ministry's Office to distribute cash rewards to the rewarded collectives and individuals.

Units under the Ministry's budget implement cash rewards and auditing and settling accounts for competition and reward funds according to current regulations based on the reward decisions of the unit heads.

The Ministry's Office is responsible for distributing cash rewards and physical rewards to rewarded collectives and individuals according to the reward decisions of the heads of units with salaries at the Ministry's Office account.

- Based on the actual need to use physical rewards, the Department of Competition and Reward develops plans and coordinates with the Ministry's Office to organize the purchase or commissioning of physical rewards accompanying commendation titles and reward forms within the authority of the Minister of Justice and the heads of units with salaries at the Ministry's Office account; units under the Ministry's budget organize the purchase or commissioning of physical rewards accompanying commendation titles and reward forms within the authority of the unit head.

The model of Certificate of Merit, Letter of Commendation, and certificates of titles according to the authority of the Minister of Justice shall be applied according to the provisions of Decree No. 50/2006/NĐ-CP dated May 19, 2006, of the Government stipulating models of Medals, Badges, Certificates of Medals, Certificates of Badges, Flags of Excellence, Certificates of Merit, Letters of Commendation.

The Ministry of Justice (Department of Competition and Reward) guides the model of certificates of titles according to the authority of the unit head.

- When withdrawing the budget to transfer into the Competition and Reward Fund, units record it under item 134 "Other Expenditures", sub-item 26 "Expenditure for Establishing the Competition and Reward Fund according to Decree No. 121/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 30, 2005, of the Government".

- Units open deposit accounts at the State Treasury or Commercial Banks (for non-state budget funds) to manage and must maintain records of the fund's income and expenditure according to current regulations.

- The deduction from the state budget to establish the Competition and Reward Fund in any given year is settled in that fiscal year.

- Annually, units must report the settlement of the use of the Competition and Reward Fund, which is included in the annual settlement report of the unit according to current regulations.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

This Circular takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette and replaces Circular No. 08/2001/TT-BTP dated December 18, 2001, of the Ministry of Justice guiding financial management in implementing the system of competition and reward in the judicial sector.

In the course of implementation, if there are difficulties, units are requested to promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Justice (Department of Competition and Reward and Department of Planning and Finance) for study and appropriate amendments and supplements.