Decision No. 11/2004/QĐ-BTS Approves the Program to Strengthen Legal Awareness and Education Work in the Fisheries Sector

Pursuant to …;

Approving the Program to Strengthen Legal Awareness and Education Work in the Fisheries Sector legal education in the Fisheries sector

MINISTER OF AQUATIC RESOURCES

Pursuant to Decree No. 43/2003/NĐ-CP dated May 2, 2003 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Fisheries;

Pursuant to Directive No. 32-CT/TW dated December 9, 2003 of the Party Central Committee on strengthening Party leadership in legal awareness and education work, enhancing citizens' and officials' awareness of law compliance;

Pursuant to Decision No. 13/2003/QD-TTg dated January 17, 2003 of the Prime Minister approving the Legal Awareness and Education Program from 2003 to 2007;

At the request of the Director of the Legal Department,

DECISION:

Article 1Approves the Program to Strengthen Legal Awareness and Education Work in the Fisheries Sector.

Article 2This Decision shall take effect fifteen days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 3. Heads of Departments, Inspectorates, Offices, affiliated organizations under the Ministry, Chairmen of the Vietnam Fisheries Union, Directors of Fisheries Departments, Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development managing fisheries affairs shall be responsible for implementing this Decision.

PROGRAM TO STRENGTHEN LEGAL AWARENESS AND EDUCATION WORK IN THE FISHERIES SECTOR

(Issued together with Decision No. 11/2004/QD-BT dated May 21, 2004 of the Minister of Fisheries
dated May 21, 2004, of the Minister of Fisheries)

I. NECESSITY OF LEGAL AWARENESS AND EDUCATION WORK

In recent years, legal awareness and education work has been given significant attention by the Party and the State, considered a key task in strengthening social management through law, contributing to building a sense of living and working according to the Constitution and laws.

The Vietnamese Fisheries Sector is a leading economic sector where officials, civil servants, and those involved in fisheries activities need extensive knowledge about legal regulations, particularly those related to state administration, rights, and legitimate interests of each party, and those directly related to specialized fields such as fishing, aquaculture, processing, and post-harvest services, as well as other regulations such as environmental protection...

However, legal awareness and education work in the Fisheries Sector over the past period has not been consistently implemented, widely disseminated, or institutionalized. Understanding of the law among officials, civil servants, and laborers in the Fisheries Sector remains limited. Given the requirement to build a rule-of-law state and implement state management through law, legal awareness and education work must be further strengthened to bring the law to every official, civil servant in the Fisheries Sector and fishery workers.

II. OBJECTIVES AND REQUIREMENTS

- Timely and fully disseminate the contents of legal documents, enhance understanding and compliance with the law among officials, civil servants, and laborers in the Fisheries Sector, creating conditions for them to use the law to protect their rights and legitimate interests. Special attention should be given to disseminating legal documents related to sectoral activities.

- Select appropriate forms, methods of dissemination and education, and legal content suitable for each target group, unit, and locality, ensuring effectiveness and feasibility; combine legal advisory services, dispute resolution, complaint handling, and accusation resolution.

- Effectively integrate legal awareness and education work with sector development programs. Closely link legal awareness and education work with the promotion of Party and State policies; effectively utilize legislative work, perfecting relevant legal documents, organizing implementation, and supervising the enforcement of laws to serve sector management and development, and properly implement democratic regulations.

III. TARGET GROUPS, CONTENT, FORMS, AND IMPLEMENTATION MEASURES

1. Objectives:

Officials and civil servants engaged in management within the Fisheries Sector, businesses operating in the fisheries industry, and laborers in the Fisheries Sector.

2. Content:

For officials and civil servants, disseminate and enforce regulations on officials and civil servants, thrift and anti-waste, anti-corruption, international economic integration, and the implementation of democratic regulations at agencies.

For businesses, disseminate legal regulations on finance, labor, economy, trade, investment, and international economic integration.

For laborers, extensively disseminate regulations closely linked to daily life and occupational activities.

Particularly emphasize the wide dissemination of the Fisheries Law and subordinate legal documents, as well as related documents and international agreements concerning fisheries activities (the Agreement on Cooperation in Fisheries in the Gulf of Tonkin with China, the Agreement on Delimitation of Maritime Boundaries with Thailand, bilateral cooperation agreements on fisheries with Indonesia, South Korea, and the Philippines...) tailored to specific target groups and localities.

3. Forms and Implementation Measures:

Apply appropriate forms of dissemination and education based on the specific conditions of each unit and locality.

Directly introduce newly issued legal normative documents, especially those related to fisheries activities.

Develop diverse and convenient information dissemination forms to meet the needs of specific target groups, such as through conferences, seminars; cooperate with radio, television, and press agencies to broadcast necessary legal content; publish and distribute books on fisheries law, distribute leaflets, posters...

Establish a legal library system from central offices to local units and enterprises.

Organize legal knowledge contests, cultural and artistic exchanges incorporating legal dissemination content.

Efficiently utilize the Government's wide-area computer network, uploading fisheries-related legal documents to the Internet, promoting the website of the Legal Affairs Department for legal consultation and answering questions, thereby widely disseminating the law to everyone.

Incorporate legal activities into grassroots units, professional associations, and mass organizations.

Enhance the quality of teaching and learning laws in schools under the sector's management, coordinate with school principals to implement mandatory legal education programs, and strengthen extracurricular activities related to the dissemination and education of laws.

Improve the effectiveness and quality of legal lecturers, reinforce the lecturer team from the Ministry down to localities and enterprises (including legal officers at Fisheries Departments and enterprises operating in the fisheries industry).

IV. IMPLEMENTATION

Establish a Steering Committee for the Dissemination and Education of Laws of the Ministry of Fisheries (referred to as the Steering Committee), comprising representatives from relevant Departments and Units (Legal Affairs Department, Fisheries Resource Exploitation and Protection Bureau, Inspectorate, Ministry Office, Vietnam Fisheries Union...) headed by a Ministry Leader as Chairperson, Legal Affairs Department Leader as Deputy Chairperson, and a specialized team assisting the Steering Committee in organizing regular legal dissemination and education activities.

The Legal Affairs Department is responsible for leading and coordinating with relevant units within the Ministry to develop detailed annual plans through the Steering Committee for approval by the Minister, and leading the implementation of legal dissemination and education activities; proposing effective measures; coordinating with units, Departments, and enterprises to improve the legal affairs officer team generally and specifically for legal dissemination and education.

Each unit, according to its professional functions, coordinates with the Legal Affairs Department to compile lists of lecturers and organize training sessions on specific topics under their responsibility.

The Ministry Office coordinates with the Legal Affairs Department to establish a legal library, propose measures to promote legal dissemination and education through mass media.

Training institutions under the Ministry should include courses on fisheries law in their curricula reasonably; coordinate with the Legal Affairs Department and the Cadres and Civil Servants Organization Department to provide legal knowledge training for fisheries officials and civil servants.

Information and press units under the Ministry should coordinate with the Legal Affairs Department and the Ministry Office to promptly publish information about relevant laws and new regulatory documents concerning fisheries.

The Planning and Finance Department should coordinate with the Legal Affairs Department and the Ministry Office to prepare annual budget estimates from the state treasury and allocate funds for legal dissemination and education activities from sectoral programs and projects.

The Vietnam Fisheries Union is tasked with participating closely with the Ministry of Fisheries' Steering Committee for legal dissemination and education, implementing such activities for industry unions at local levels and subordinate grassroots unions; organizing legal quizzes and training sessions to enhance workers' understanding of the law in fisheries-related union organizations.