Decree No. 73/2009/NĐ-CP detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Village Police Ordinance.

DECREE

DETAILING IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN ARTICLES OF THE VILLAGE POLICE ORDINANCE

THE GOVERNMENT

On the basis of Law on Government Organization dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant toThe Village Police Ordinance dated November 21, 2008;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Public Security,

DECREE:

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

1. This Decree details the implementation of certain Articles of the Village Police Ordinance regarding: the framework for the number of Deputy Village Police Chiefs and Village Police Officers; criteria for selection, training, instruction, uniforms, insignia, Village Police Officer certification; benefits, policies, and material conditions ensuring the operation of Village Police.

Article 2. Applicability

This Decree applies to Village Police and relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals involved in Village Police activities throughout the territory of Vietnam.

Article 3. Key and complex villages in terms of security and public order and the framework for the number of Deputy Village Police Chiefs and Village Police Officers

1. A key and complex village in terms of security and public order is a village with significant political, economic, cultural-social, national defense-security positions, or a place where political security situations frequently have complex developments.

The identification of key and complex villages in terms of security and public order shall be proposed by the Chairman of the People's Committee of the province or centrally governed city (hereinafter referred to collectively as provincial level), reviewed by the Minister of Public Security, and decided upon. Each locality shall review and propose adjustments and supplements to key and complex villages in terms of security and public order annually.

2. The framework for the number of Deputy Village Police Chiefs and Village Police Officers is stipulated as follows:

a) Each village shall be allocated 01 Deputy Village Police Chief; key and complex villages in terms of security and public order, type 1 and type 2 villages may be allocated up to 02 Deputy Village Police Chiefs;

b) Each hamlet, village, commune, ward, township, and equivalent community unit shall be allocated 01 Village Police Officer. For hamlets, villages, communes, wards, townships, and equivalent community units located in key and complex villages in terms of security and public order, type 1 and type 2 villages, up to 02 Village Police Officers may be allocated;

c) The office or workplace of the Village Police shall allocate no more than 03 Village Police Officers on duty 24/7 daily.

Article 4. Selection Criteria for Village Police

1. Vietnamese citizens aged 18 years or older who meet the following criteria shall be considered for selection into the Village Police of their place of residence:

a) Clear background, good moral character, no criminal record; themselves and their families comply well with the Party's guidelines and State laws. The Village Police Chief must be a member of the Communist Party of Vietnam;

b) Adequate health to perform Village Police duties (certified by a medical facility at the district level or higher);

c) The Village Police Chief and Deputy Village Police Chief must be individuals who have completed secondary school education or higher (holding a graduation certificate or a certificate confirming completion of the secondary school curriculum issued by an authorized body); Village Police Officers must be individuals who have completed junior high school or higher;

In mountainous areas, remote regions, and far-flung areas, if there are no candidates meeting the educational requirements stipulated herein, the educational qualifications of the Village Police Chief, Deputy Village Police Chief, and Village Police Officers can be lower but must be individuals who have completed primary school education or higher;

d) Possess the ability to perform tasks and submit a voluntary application to join the Village Police.

2. The People's Committee at the district level and the People's Committee at the village level must develop plans for selecting, allocating, and utilizing Village Police to ensure stability and long-term sustainability, meeting the needs of maintaining security, public order, and social safety at the grassroots level; priority should be given to selecting former conscripts from the People's Public Security Forces who have completed their service obligations and returned to their home communities to join the Village Police force.

The selection of individuals to join the Village Police must be conducted democratically, openly, transparently, in accordance with the criteria set forth in this Decree and the guidance of the Ministry of Public Security.

The Head of the District-level Village Police, the Head of the Village-level Village Police have the responsibility to advise and assist the Chairman of the People's Committee at the same level in planning, selecting, allocating, and utilizing Village Police.

Article 5. Training, instruction, and enhancement for Village Police

1. Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs of Village Police shall be trained and enhanced at the provincial-level training centers for professional skills or at the Police Secondary Schools and Security Secondary Schools.

2. The Minister of Public Security shall specify the time, program, and content of training for Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs of Village Police.

Article 6. Uniforms, insignia, and Certificates for Village Police

1. The uniforms and usage period for Village Police are specified as follows:

Winter pants and jacket along with warm jackets will be provided to areas north of Thua Thien Hue and five provinces in the Central Highlands; other areas will be provided spring and summer pants and jacket.

2. Color of uniforms:

- Pants, shirts, hats, socks in faded grass color;

- Small belts in brown, buckles in gold;

- Leather shoes in black.

3. Style of uniforms

a) Winter jacket:

- Inner shirt made in long-sleeve button-down style, standing collar (with a v-neck tie);

- Outer jacket made in long-sleeve vest style, front of the jacket has four outside pockets, buttons made of plastic matching the fabric color. On the left sleeve of the jacket, there is an insignia of Village Police attached.

b) Spring and summer jacket made in long-sleeve bludong style, standing collar; front of the jacket has two outside chest pockets, buttons made of plastic matching the fabric color. On the left sleeve of the jacket, there is an insignia of Village Police attached (shield shape, 90mm high, 70mm wide, green background, yellow border around the insignia, on the insignia there is a row of letters "Village Police" in yellow);

c) Trousers made in European-style trousers;

d) Soft cap, with an insignia of Village Police attached on top (shield shape, on the center of the emblem is a golden sword and five-pointed star, below the emblem is half a wheel and a golden scroll, on the scroll there are red letters "Village Police").

4. Uniforms, insignia, and certificates of Village Police must be strictly managed according to the prescribed regulations and can only be used when performing official duties.

Strictly prohibited from lending, renting, buying, or selling uniforms and insignia of Village Police illegally.

5. The Minister of Public Security shall specify and provide detailed guidelines for the model of uniforms, insignia, and certificates of Village Police; regulate the issuance, replacement, recovery, and handling of violations in cases where the certificate of Village Police is lost.

Article 7. Benefits and policies for Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs of Village Police and Village Police Officers

1. Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs of Village Police and Village Police Officers shall enjoy salary and allowances as stipulated by the Government's regulations on benefits and policies for cadres and civil servants at commune, ward, and town levels.

2. Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs of Village Police and Village Police Officers shall implement social insurance and health insurance according to the Social Insurance Law and Health Insurance Law.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security to guide the implementation of social insurance and health insurance for Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs of Village Police and Village Police Officers according to the Social Insurance Law and Health Insurance Law.

3. Chiefs of Village Police who have served continuously for 60 months or more shall receive seniority allowance annually equal to 1% of their salary and current allowances; those who have served continuously for 15 years or more and retire due to legitimate reasons without meeting retirement conditions shall receive a one-time subsidy, calculated at 1.5 months of the average salary and allowance contributions for each year of service.

Seniority allowance shall be paid monthly together with the salary and used to pay for social insurance and health insurance.

4. Deputy Chiefs of Village Police and Village Police Officers who have served continuously for 15 years or more and retire due to legitimate reasons shall receive a one-time subsidy, calculated at 1.5 months of the average current allowance for each year of service; when assigned to concentrated training, instruction, and political and legal education, they shall receive subsistence allowance equivalent to the basic food allowance of limited-term serving police personnel; when on duty, they shall enjoy the same benefits as commune-level civil servants.

5. Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs of Village Police and Village Police Officers performing regular standby duty at key locations with complex security and public order issues shall receive daily allowances equal to 0.05 times the general minimum wage. In cases where they perform duties far from their residence and cannot return home daily, the agency issuing the mobilization decision shall arrange accommodation, provide transportation support, or reimburse travel expenses once for going and returning.

6. Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs of Village Police and Village Police Officers suffering illness during work shall be examined and treated at medical facilities and shall be supported with reimbursement for examination and treatment costs from local government budgets, with specific support levels determined by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

7. Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs of Village Police and Village Police Officers injured while on duty, during concentrated training, instruction, and political and legal education, or on the way to perform duties, or on the way to and from places for concentrated training and political and legal education as per authorized decisions shall enjoy the following benefits:

a) Reimbursement for medical expenses during emergency care until stable treatment and discharge;

b) After treatment, they shall be referred by the Commune People's Committee for labor capacity assessment at the Medical Examination Board as stipulated by law.

If the person participates in social insurance, they shall receive one-time or monthly assistance according to the Social Insurance Law. If the person has not participated in social insurance and suffers a reduction in working capacity of 5% or more, they shall receive one-time assistance, with the level of assistance specified by the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs;

c) Persons injured resulting in loss of one or more body parts or functions, manifesting in various disabilities that reduce activity capacity and make labor and study difficult shall enjoy preferential benefits as stipulated by law for persons with disabilities.

d) In cases where death occurs, including during initial treatment, if the deceased had participated in social insurance, it shall be implemented according to the provisions of the Law on Social Insurance; in cases where the deceased had not participated in social insurance, the person responsible for burial shall receive funeral expenses equivalent to eight (8) months of the minimum wage, and the family of the deceased shall receive a one-time allowance equivalent to five (5) months of the minimum wage.

8. The Chief of Public Security Police Station, Deputy Chief of Public Security Police Station, and Public Security Police Officers who are injured or sacrificed while performing their duties or due to reasons related to the execution of official duties shall enjoy benefits and policies according to the provisions of the Law on Preferential Treatment for Persons with Meritorious Service in the Cause of National Liberation and Defense.

9. The funds for paying out benefits due to accidents shall be covered by the local budget. For those who have participated in social insurance, the payment shall be made from the social insurance fund.

Article 8. Ensuring Funds and Material Bases for the Activities of Public Security Police Stations

1. The sources of funds ensuring the activities of Public Security Police Stations include the central government budget and the local government budget.

2. The State ensures funds and material bases for serving the activities, training, instruction, enhancement, implementation of policies and other necessary conditions for Public Security Police Stations.

3. The state budget expenditure ensuring the activities of Public Security Police Stations shall be carried out as follows:

a) The tasks of expenditure of the Ministry of Public Security:

- Ensuring political, legal, and professional training, instruction, and enhancement work for village-level public security police forces organized by the Ministry of Public Security, and ensuring the enhancement allowance for Deputy Chiefs of Public Security Police Stations and Public Security Police Officers when they are sent to participate in training, instruction, and enhancement courses;

- Producing, purchasing, repairing weapons, auxiliary tools, equipment, uniforms, insignia, and certificates of Public Security Police Station;

- Expenditure for summarizing and rewarding in the construction of village-level public security police forces organized by the Ministry of Public Security;

- Other expenditures for Public Security Police Stations as stipulated by law that fall under the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Security.

b) The tasks of expenditure of the locality:

- Paying salaries, allowances, and contributions/submissions for social insurance and health insurance;

- Implementing policies and benefits such as enhancement, assistance, sickness, maternity, accident, injury, sacrifice, or death;

- Expenditure for political, legal, and professional training, instruction, and enhancement organized by the locality, and ensuring the enhancement allowance for Deputy Chiefs of Public Security Police Stations and Public Security Police Officers when they are sent to participate in training, instruction, and enhancement sessions;

- Purchasing uniforms, insignia, and printing and issuing certificates of Public Security Police Station according to the prescribed model of the Ministry of Public Security;

- Expenditure for summarizing, concluding, and rewarding units, organizations, and individuals with outstanding achievements in the construction of village-level public security police forces organized by the locality;

- Other expenditures for Public Security Police Stations as stipulated by law that fall under the responsibility of the locality.

For certain tasks of expenditure, if social insurance and health insurance benefits have already been implemented, then these shall be paid by the social insurance agency, and the state budget will not undertake this task.

c) The preparation, implementation, and settlement of the budget ensuring the activities of Public Security Police Stations shall be carried out according to the provisions of the Law on State Budget and guiding documents.

4. The Ministry of Finance shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to ensure the funding for implementing the Ordinance on Public Security Police Stations and this Decree according to the provisions of the Law on State Budget.

Article 9. Effective Date

1. This Decree takes effect from October 25, 2009, and replaces Government Decree No. 40/1999/NĐ-CP dated June 23, 1999, on Village Public Security Police Stations.

2. The Minister of Public Security shall be responsible for detailing and providing detailed guidance on the implementation of this Decree.

Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees directly under the Central Government shall be responsible for implementing this Decree.