Decree No. 157/2007/NĐ-CP on the responsibility regime for heads of state agencies, organizations, and units in performing their duties and public services

DECREE

Regulations on the responsibility regime for heads of state agencies, organizations, and units in performing their duties and public services

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;
Pursuant to the Civil Servants Ordinance dated February 26, 1998; the Ordinance amending and supplementing certain articles of the Civil Servants Ordinance dated April 28, 2000; the Ordinance amending and supplementing certain articles of the Civil Servants Ordinance dated April 29, 2003;
Considering the proposal of the Minister of Home Affairs,

DECREE:

Chapter 1:
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Decree stipulates the responsibility regime for heads of state agencies, organizations, and units in performing their duties and public services.

Article 2. Applicability

1. This Decree applies to heads of the following state agencies, organizations, and units:

a) Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and government agencies; administrative organizations directly under ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and government agencies;

b) People's Councils and People's Committees at all levels; Committees under provincial and district People's Councils; specialized agencies under provincial and district People's Committees;

c) Office of the President; Office of the National Assembly, Ethnic Council, and Committees of the National Assembly; Office of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption; State Audit Agency; People's Courts, People's Procuratorates at all levels; Military Courts, Military Procuratorates at all levels;

d) State-affiliated public service organizations;

e) Economic groups, holding companies, and state-owned enterprises (hereinafter referred to collectively as state-owned enterprises).

2. Deputies of heads of state agencies, organizations, and units specified in Clause 1 of this Article must also bear responsibility like the head of the state agency, organization, or unit within the scope of leadership, management, and operation delegated by written authorization or by a decision assigning responsibility for a specific area by the head of the agency, organization, or superior supervisory agency.

3. Heads and deputies of heads of organizations constituting state agencies, organizations, and units specified in Clause 1 of this Article must also implement the responsibility regime during the process of proposing, advising, submitting, and implementing assigned tasks related to the responsibility regime of the head of the state agency, organization, or unit.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms

1. "Deputy of the head of a state agency, organization, or unit" as defined in Clause 2 of Article 2 of this Decree is a person assigned to assist the head of the agency or unit in managing and overseeing certain areas within the agency or unit or certain subordinate agencies, organizations, or units.

2. "Responsibility regime" for heads and deputies of heads of state agencies, organizations, and units is the entire set of regulations concerning functions, duties, powers, and authorities granted by the State to the head and deputy of the head; violations will be handled according to the provisions of Article 6 of this Decree.

3. "Head and deputy of the head of state-owned enterprises" as defined in Point d of Clause 1 of Article 2 of this Decree includes: Chairman of the Board of Directors; civil servants appointed to hold positions as General Director, Deputy General Director, Director, or Deputy Director of state-owned enterprises.

Article 4. Basis for determining the responsibility regime for heads and deputies of heads

1. The obligations, duties, powers, benefits of civil servants and officials, and the matters that civil servants and officials are not allowed to do as prescribed in the Civil Servant Ordinance and other related legal documents.

2. The relationship and content of work division between the responsibilities of the head and the deputy of the head in directing, managing, and operating state agencies, organizations, and units.

3. The content of the responsibility regime for heads as stipulated in Article 7. 2. Civil servants, officials, and officers belonging to the armed forces working directly and regularly in the field of foreign affairs and international integration shall be recognized as being proficient in rare foreign languages if they meet the following conditions:

Article 5. Responsibilities of persons entrusted with the authority to lead or be responsible for state agencies, organizations, and units

Persons entrusted with the authority to lead or be responsible for state agencies, organizations, and units as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 2 of this Decree must also implement the responsibility regime like the heads of state agencies, organizations, and units.

Article 6. Forms of responsibility for heads and deputies of heads of state agencies, organizations, and units

1. If heads and deputies of heads of state agencies, organizations, and units violate the responsibility regime prescribed in this Decree, depending on the nature and degree of the violation, they shall bear one or more of the following forms of responsibility:

a) Disciplinary responsibility;

b) Civil liability;

c) Material liability;

d) Criminal liability;

đ) Other liabilities as prescribed by law.

2. Disciplinary responsibility: if heads and deputies of heads of state agencies, organizations, and units violate legal provisions in performing their duties and public service tasks, but have not reached the level of being criminally prosecuted, they shall be subject to disciplinary action according to the nature and degree of the violation. Disciplinary actions must comply with legal provisions on disciplinary measures for civil servants.

3. Civil liability: if heads and deputies of heads of state agencies, organizations, and units violate legal provisions in performing their duties and public service tasks, causing damage or infringing upon the reputation and dignity of individuals or the reputation of agencies, organizations, and units to the extent that they must bear civil liability, in addition to disciplinary action, they must also bear civil liability. Handling civil liability for heads and deputies of heads of state agencies, organizations, and units must comply with civil law and civil procedure law provisions.

4. Material liability: if heads and deputies of heads of state agencies, organizations, and units violate legal provisions in performing their duties and public service tasks, causing loss or damage to equipment or property of agencies, organizations, and units, but have not reached the level of being criminally prosecuted, they must bear material liability according to legal provisions.

5. Criminal liability: if heads and deputies of heads of state agencies, organizations, and units commit a crime as defined in the Penal Code while performing their duties and public service tasks, they must bear criminal liability according to Article 2 of the Penal Code of 1999. Handling criminal liability for heads and deputies of heads of state agencies, organizations, and units must comply with criminal law and criminal procedure law provisions.

Chapter 2:
LIABILITY REGIME FOR HEADS OF ORGANIZATIONS

Article 7. Content of the liability regime for heads of organizations

1. Be responsible for all activities of the agency, organization, or unit under their leadership and management.

2. Set an example and strictly comply with the Party's guidelines, policies, State laws, and directives from superiors; organize and manage the agency, organization, or unit to fulfill its functions, tasks, and powers effectively and within the prescribed time frame; decide on necessary policies and measures to complete tasks and be responsible for such decisions.

3. Issue or submit to competent authorities for issuance legal documents ensuring their legality (including regulatory legal documents, individual legal documents, directive and operational circulars, internal regulations, rules, and provisions applicable within the managed agencies, organizations, or units).

4. Based on regulations on division of responsibilities and assigned tasks and powers, issue specific documents defining the functions, tasks, powers, and responsibilities of deputy levels, constituent agencies, organizations, or units, or individual civil servants, public officials, and employees under their authority; avoid overlapping tasks or unclear responsibilities; ensure that civil servants, public officials, and employees under their authority perform their assigned functions, tasks, and powers correctly and in accordance with the law.

5. Recruit, utilize, evaluate, train, provide supplementary training, increase salaries, nominate for promotion examinations, decide on promotions, appoint, reward, discipline, grant retirement benefits, and manage the cadre, civil servant, and public official workforce according to the Party's policies and State laws.

6. Manage and use state assets effectively; prevent fires and explosions and ensure workplace safety at the agency, organization, or unit. When using financial resources, assets, and equipment, comply with established systems, policies, and legal regulations; conduct regular management and inspections to prevent corruption, waste, damage, loss, and embezzlement.

7. Comply with legal regulations on office culture; prevent situations where civil servants, public officials, and employees under their authority exhibit arrogant, autocratic attitudes, causing inconvenience to citizens and businesses during the performance of their duties.

8. Implement democratic regulations within the agency, organization, or unit; resolve complaints and denunciations within their jurisdiction in accordance with legal regulations.

9. Adhere to legal regulations on protecting state secrets; on public statements, exploitation, management, and use of the Internet within the agency, organization, or unit.

10. Other liability regimes as stipulated by law.

Article 8. Responsibilities of the competent authority in appointing or assigning tasks to heads of organizations

1. The competent authority when deciding to appoint or assign tasks to a head must clearly define the powers and tasks of the appointed person in the position of head based on the principle:

a) The powers of the head must be commensurate with the assigned responsibilities and tasks;

b) The powers, responsibilities, and tasks assigned to the head must be clear and specific.

2. The competent authority responsible for appointing or assigning tasks to a head must ensure conditions regarding human resources, finance, equipment, and time for the head to carry out their assigned responsibilities, powers, and tasks.

Chapter 3:
REWARD AND VIOLATION HANDLING

Article 9. Awards

The head and deputy of the head who excellently complete their tasks and public duties and strictly comply with the responsibility system stipulated in this Decree and other relevant legal documents shall be awarded according to the law and considered when being recommended for candidacy, reappointment, appointment to a higher position, salary increase ahead of schedule, or when being nominated to take the examination for promotion according to the law.

Article 10. Cases of Handling Responsibility for the Head

1. Violating the content of the responsibility system for the head prescribed in Article 7 of this Decree.

2. When discovering that officials, civil servants, and employees under their management violate the law in performing their tasks and public duties, the head does not take resolute measures to stop such violations and does not promptly apply effective remedial measures.

3. Not assigning tasks or assigning unclear tasks to subordinates; not inspecting or inadequately inspecting and urging subordinates to perform their tasks.

4. Subordinates have reported or requested instructions on matters within the authority of the head but the head fails to resolve them as required.

5. Issuing illegal, vague, unclear, inconsistent directives causing wastage of state budget and assets; advising, proposing, submitting to competent authorities for issuance or issuing according to their authority illegal documents; failing to fulfill assigned tasks within the specified time limit.

6. Deputies, representatives, or persons authorized to act contrary to state regulations and policies in performing tasks and public duties delegated by law to the head.

7. Allowing deputies and officials, civil servants, and employees under their management to engage in corruption and wastage.

8. Permitting situations where complaints and reports bypass levels and persist over time.

9. Not handling violations by subordinates seriously or covering up their illegal actions.

Article 11. Special Cases

In cases where state agencies, organizations, and units operate under a collective management mechanism, when resolving issues within the decision-making authority of the collective leadership, if the majority opinion of the leaders contradicts the Party's guidelines and state laws, and the head or deputy of the head responsible for leading and managing that field does not express a different opinion, they must be subject to a more severe level of responsibility than other members of the collective leadership of the state agency, organization, or unit according to this Decree.

Article 12. Principles for Considering and Handling Responsibility for the Head and Deputy of the Head

When dealing with heads and deputies of heads who violate the responsibility system, in addition to implementing the principles of disciplinary action for officials, civil servants, and employees as prescribed by current laws, the following principles must also be observed:

1. Handling heads and deputies of heads who violate the responsibility system of the head must be conducted fairly, openly, objectively, in accordance with the law, procedures, nature, and severity of the violation; no wrongful or mistaken handling; no violation should be overlooked.

2. If heads and deputies of heads commit the same illegal acts with the same nature and degree, the head will be subject to a more severe level of handling than the deputy of the head.

Article 13. Cases of Exemption and Mitigation of Liability for Heads and Deputy Heads

1. The head or deputy head shall be exempted from liability in the following cases:

a) The head or deputy head could not know or has fulfilled their responsibility and taken necessary measures to prevent and stop acts of corruption, waste, or other violations of the law;

b) The head or deputy head responsible for the assigned field has issued legal documents to amend, supplement, replace, abolish, revoke, or suspend the implementation of part or all of the illegal documents they issued and have remedied the consequences caused by issuing and implementing those illegal documents;

c) Due to natural disasters, enemy actions, other accidents, or force majeure situations, the head of the agency, organization, or unit has taken preventive and protective measures;

d) The head is absent from the agency, organization, or unit and has delegated authority to the deputy through a written authorization during the absence; the deputy must bear responsibility for their own actions and decisions made while performing the head's duties and powers as stated in the authorization;

đ) In cases where the head or deputy head must comply with a decision from a superior, if there is evidence that the decision is contrary to the law, they must immediately report it to the person who made the decision; if compliance is still required, they must report it to the immediate superior of the decision-maker and shall not be held responsible for the consequences of implementing the decision;

2. The head or deputy head who violates the accountability system may have their disciplinary action mitigated by one level when they voluntarily acknowledge the violation, submit a resignation letter, and have remedied the consequences caused by the violation, and such remediation is approved by the competent authority;

Article 14. Cases of Increased Liability for Heads and Deputy Heads

The head or deputy head who violates the accountability system will be subject to increased liability in the following cases:

1. Reporting false information about the implementation status or results of assigned tasks and public duties;

2. Media reports on law violations at the agency, organization, or unit, or when superiors discover and promptly issue directives but the head or deputy head does not implement or apply immediate measures to address the situation, leading to adverse consequences;

3. The head or deputy head has been disciplined for violating the accountability system and then commits the same violation again or lacks honesty in reporting, recounting, accepting criticism, self-examination, or intentionally evades or shirks responsibility.

Article 15. Complaints, Accusations, Appeals, and Litigation

1. The head or deputy head of state agencies, organizations, or units has the right to file complaints, appeals, litigation, or objections against the accountability handling decisions of the competent authorities according to the provisions of the law;

2. Citizens have the right to accuse violations of the accountability system by heads or deputy heads of state agencies, organizations, or units stipulated in this Decree and related legal documents according to the provisions of the law.

Chapter 4:
IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 16. Effectiveness, Guidance, and Supervision of Implementation

1. This Decree shall take effect fifteen days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

2. The competent authority of political organizations shall guide the application and supervise the implementation of this Decree for agencies, units under political organizations, and political-social organizations.

3. The Minister of Home Affairs shall be responsible for supervising the implementation of this Decree in agencies, units, organizations, and state-owned enterprises specified in points a, b, d, and đ of Clause 1, Article 2 of this Decree.

Article 17. Responsibility for Implementation

Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of People's Councils at all levels, relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals shall be responsible for implementing this Decree./.