Decree No. 97/2019/ND-CP Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 30/2018/ND-CP dated March 7, 2018 of the Government detailing the establishment and operation of the Asset Valuation Council; the procedures and formalities for asset valuation in criminal proceedings.

DECREE

Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 30/2018/NĐ-CP
dated March 7, 2018 of the Government detailing the establishment and operation of the Asset Valuation Council;
procedures and formalities for asset valuation in criminal proceedings
Procedures and formalities for asset valuation in criminal proceedings

||| Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Code dated November 27, 2015;

At the proposal of the Minister of Finance;

The Government promulgates this Decree amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 30/2018/NĐ-CP dated March 7, 2018 detailing the establishment and operation of the Asset Valuation Council; procedures and formalities for asset valuation in criminal proceedings.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 30/2018/NĐ-CP dated March 7, 2018 of the Government detailing the establishment and operation of the Asset Valuation Council; procedures and formalities for asset valuation in criminal proceedings

1. Amending and supplementing Clause 1, Clause 4 and adding Clause 4a after Clause 4 of Article 6 as follows:

a) Amending and supplementing Clause 1 and Clause 4 of Article 6 as follows:

“1. The case-specific Asset Valuation Council shall be established at the district, town, city under province, provincial-level city (hereinafter referred to collectively as district level); at the provincial level, provincial-level city (hereinafter referred to collectively as provincial level); at the ministry level, ministerial-equivalent agency (hereinafter referred to collectively as ministry level); the Asset Valuation Council shall be established by the Prime Minister’s decision.”

“4. The case-specific Asset Valuation Council at the ministry level shall be established by the Minister or the head of a ministerial-equivalent agency performing state management functions in the relevant industry or field concerning the assets to be valued as prescribed by law, to carry out valuation in the following cases:

a) Revaluating in the cases provided for in Articles 21 and 22 of this Decree.

b) Conducting initial valuation of assets in corruption, economic, official position-related offenses involving particularly serious and complex crimes attracting public attention when requested by competent authorities conducting criminal proceedings.

c) In cases where there are multiple types of assets, the competent authority conducting criminal proceedings shall, based on the economic and technical characteristics of the assets and the requirements of the case, classify the assets and request the relevant ministries or ministerial-equivalent agencies to establish appropriate Asset Valuation Councils according to their state management functions in the following situations: If the assets can be classified and separated for valuation, the competent authority conducting criminal proceedings shall request each ministry or ministerial-equivalent agency to establish an Asset Valuation Council for each group of assets.

If the assets cannot be classified, the competent authority conducting criminal proceedings shall request the ministry or ministerial-equivalent agency performing state management functions in the relevant industry or field for one type of asset among the assets of the case to take the lead in establishing the Asset Valuation Council; specifically, if among the assets to be valued there is land or land use rights, the central authority managing land shall take the lead in establishing the Asset Valuation Council (regardless of ownership of the asset). Each ministry or ministerial-equivalent agency performing state management functions in other industries or fields shall send representatives to participate as members of the Asset Valuation Council upon the request of the leading ministry or ministerial-equivalent agency.”

b) Adding Clause 4a after Clause 4 of Article 6 as follows:

“4a. The Asset Valuation Council established by the Prime Minister's decision shall be set up when requested by the competent authority conducting criminal proceedings to revalue in the cases provided for in Articles 21 and 22 of this Decree.”

2. Amending Clause 3, Clause 4 and adding Clause 3a after Clause 3 of Article 8 as follows:

a) Amending Clause 3, Clause 4 of Article 8 as follows:

“3. The composition of the Asset Valuation Council at the ministry level includes:

a) A leader from a specialized agency within the ministry or ministerial-equivalent agency establishing the Council as the Chairman of the Council;

b) An officer from a specialized agency within the ministry or ministerial-equivalent agency establishing the Council as a permanent member of the Council;

c) Members of the Council include: representatives of related specialized agencies within the ministry or ministerial-equivalent agency establishing the Council; representatives of other related agencies involved with the assets to be valued (if any). For cases involving multiple types of assets that cannot be classified, the members of the Asset Valuation Council shall also include representatives of other ministries or ministerial-equivalent agencies performing state management functions in the relevant industries or fields according to the requirement to appoint personnel from the leading ministry or ministerial-equivalent agency as stipulated in Point c, Clause 4 of Article 6 of this Decree.

Based on the asset valuation requirements, the leader of the specialized agency within the ministry or ministerial-equivalent agency establishing the Council as stipulated in Point a of this clause shall propose suitable members for each case according to the characteristics of the assets to be valued.”

“4. The number of members of the Asset Valuation Council must be odd, with a minimum of three members for the district-level Asset Valuation Council, and a minimum of five members for other-level Asset Valuation Councils. In necessary cases, the head of the competent authority establishing the Asset Valuation Council may decide to establish an Assistance Team for the Council.”

b) Adding Clause 3a after Clause 3 of Article 8 as follows:

“3a. The composition of the Asset Valuation Council established by the Prime Minister's decision includes:

a) A leader from a ministry or ministerial-equivalent agency performing state management functions in the relevant industry or field concerning the assets to be valued as prescribed by law as the Chairman of the Council;

b) A leader from a specialized agency within a ministry or ministerial-equivalent agency performing state management functions in the relevant industry or field concerning the assets to be valued as prescribed by law as a permanent member of the Council;

c) Members of the Council include: representatives of related specialized agencies within the ministry or ministerial-equivalent agency establishing the Asset Valuation Council; representatives of specialized agencies within the Ministry of Finance related to the assets to be valued (if any); representatives of other ministries, ministerial-equivalent agencies, and other related agencies involved with the assets to be valued (if any).

On the basis of the asset valuation request, the leaders of ministries, ministerial-level agencies responsible for managing state administration in the relevant industry or field for the assets to be valued as stipulated in point a of this clause shall propose suitable members in accordance with the characteristics of the assets to be valued for each case.

3. Amend and supplement point a and b of Clause 1 of Article 10 as follows:

“1. The Valuation Council has the right to:

a) Request competent authorities conducting criminal proceedings to provide full information and necessary documents for the valuation;

b) Hire appraisal enterprises to conduct asset appraisals; hire organizations or individuals with experience to advise on economic-technical condition assessments and other contents serving the asset valuation. Hiring of appraisal enterprises and organizations or individuals with experience to advise shall be carried out in cases deemed necessary by the Asset Valuation Council.

In cases where asset valuation is required urgently to serve criminal cases according to the request of competent authorities conducting criminal proceedings, tender packages for asset appraisals, tender packages for hiring organizations or individuals with experience to advise on economic-technical condition assessments and other contents serving the asset valuation shall apply the special tender selection method as prescribed in the Law on Bidding and the Decision of the Prime Minister.

4. Amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 14 as follows:

“1. The asset valuation request document along with related documents and files concerning the asset valuation request shall be sent to the regular Valuation Council requested or to the competent authority establishing the Valuation Council for case-by-case Valuation Councils.

In cases where it is necessary to establish a Valuation Council based on the decision of the Prime Minister, the competent authority conducting criminal proceedings shall send the asset valuation request document to the ministry or ministerial-level agency that first established the provincial-level Valuation Council or revalued (for special cases as prescribed in Article 22 of this Decree). Upon receipt of the asset valuation request document, the ministry or ministerial-level agency shall have the responsibility to advise and submit to the Prime Minister for a decision to establish the Valuation Council based on appointing representatives from relevant units.

The content and deadline for sending the asset valuation request document shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of Article 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

5. Amend Clause 3, point b of Clause 4 and Clause 6 of Article 21 as follows:

“3. The revaluation prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article shall be conducted by the higher-level Valuation Council:

a) The provincial Valuation Council shall revalue assets initially valued by the district Valuation Council;

b) The central-level Valuation Council shall revalue assets initially valued by the provincial Valuation Council;

c) The Valuation Council established by the decision of the Prime Minister shall revalue assets initially valued by the central-level Valuation Council. The conclusion of the Valuation Council established by the decision of the Prime Minister shall be the final conclusion regarding the value of the asset to be valued.”

“4. The second revaluation prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article shall be conducted by the Valuation Council providing services to the Valuation Council established to conduct the first revaluation as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article:

b) The central-level Valuation Council shall conduct the second revaluation in cases where there is a contradiction between the initial valuation conclusion of the provincial Valuation Council and the revaluation conclusion of the central-level Valuation Council.”

“6. The revaluation of assets prescribed in this Article shall be conducted in accordance with the general principles, procedures, and valuation processes stipulated in this Decree and related laws. Competent authorities conducting criminal proceedings shall have the responsibility to send all relevant documents and information about the assets to be valued, accompanied by detailed explanatory documents based on legal grounds and reasons for suspecting the valuation results, to the higher-level Valuation Council.”

6. Amend and supplement Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 22 as follows:

“1. In special cases, the Procurator General of the Supreme People's Procuracy or the President of the Supreme People's Court may decide on revaluation of assets when there is a second revaluation conclusion of the Valuation Council. The revaluation conclusion in such cases shall be the final valuation conclusion for resolving the case.

2. The central-level Valuation Council shall conduct revaluation of assets in special cases for assets initially valued by the district-level Valuation Council; the Valuation Council established by the decision of the Prime Minister shall conduct revaluation of assets in special cases for assets initially valued by the provincial-level Valuation Council.”

7. Supplement point b1 after point b of Clause 1 of Article 23 as follows:

“b1) A report explaining and clarifying the professional work serving the asset valuation of the Valuation Council;”

8. Supplement Clause 3 to Article 24 as follows:

“3. Based on the requirements and nature of the case, the authority establishing the Valuation Council or the authority submitting to the Prime Minister for establishment of the Valuation Council shall have the responsibility to use their administrative management budget to support some regular activities of the Valuation Council including travel expenses, specialized meetings, surveys, information collection, office supplies purchase, reports explaining and clarifying the professional work serving the asset valuation of the Valuation Council. On the basis of overall balance, if it affects the regular activities of the unit, the authority establishing the Valuation Council or the authority submitting to the Prime Minister for establishment of the Valuation Council shall have the responsibility to prepare a budget request for additional funding in accordance with the State Budget Law and guiding documents for implementation. The expenditure level shall be implemented in accordance with the current regulations stipulated in normative legal documents, and certain expenditure levels shall be applied as follows:

a) The expenditure level for market price survey by members of the Valuation Council and the Working Group of the Valuation Council shall be carried out in accordance with the regulations on payment for staff and civil servants conducting complex in-depth statistical investigations as prescribed by the Ministry of Finance on preparing budgets, managing, using, and settling accounts for funds to implement statistical surveys and national comprehensive statistical surveys.

b) The level of expenditure for professional meetings, building explanatory reports, and providing professional explanations to serve the asset valuation work of the Valuation Council shall be implemented in accordance with the regulations on the level of expenditure for individuals participating in meetings, seminars, roundtables, conferences, press conferences, and the level of expenditure for consolidated opinion reports, explanatory reports, and adoption of opinions according to the Ministry of Finance's regulations on budget preparation, management, use, and settlement of state budget funds to ensure the work of drafting normative legal documents and perfecting the legal system.

Article 2. Effective Date

This Decree takes effect from February 15, 2020.

Article 3. Transitional Provisions

In cases where cases being valued by the Valuation Councils at various levels in accordance with the Government's Decree No. 30/2018/NĐ-CP dated March 7, 2018, concerning detailed provisions on the establishment and operation of the Asset Valuation Council in criminal proceedings; procedures and valuation processes in criminal proceedings before this Decree comes into effect, they shall continue to be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Decree No. 30/2018/NĐ-CP.

Article 4. Responsibilities for Implementation

1. The Ministry of Finance shall be responsible for organizing the implementation of this Decree.

2. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of provincial people's committees under central cities shall be responsible for implementing this Decree.

3. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and provincial people's committees shall be responsible for organizing and guiding specialized agencies to establish the Asset Valuation Council in criminal proceedings and ensuring the regulations on asset valuation in criminal proceedings./.