Laws of Vietnam

The Ordinance on Handling Administrative Violations was passed by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on July 6, 1995, and takes effect from August 1st, 1995. This is an important legal document on preventing and combating administrative violations with the aim of maintaining security and social order and safety, strengthening socialist legislation, and raising the State's management efficiency. With a view to a satisfactory implementation of this Ordinance, the Prime Minister issues the following directive:

1. The Ministers, the Heads of ministerial-level agencies, the Heads of the agencies attached to the Government, and the Presidents of the People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government shall have to closely cooperate with the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organizations in popularizing widely among the officials and personnel of State offices, economic organizations, social organizations, the armed force units, and all citizens the contents of the Ordinance on Handling Administrative Violations with the aim of raising their sense of respecting and strictly observing the Ordinance, energizing the struggle to prevent and combat administrative violations, and at the same time, enhancing the role of the State offices and personnel in supervising the implementation of the Ordinance.

The central and local mass media should use every suitable form to widely and regularly popularize the aim, requirements and contents of the Ordinance on Handling Administrative Violations.

2. The Ministries and branches which exercise the specialized function of inspection or are empowered to handle administrative violations, the People's Committees at different levels, and other agencies which are authorized to handle administrative violations must have a plan to perfect their organization, assign capable and qualified cadres, and organize training courses for a satisfactory implementation of the Ordinance on Handling Administrative Violations and other legal documents concerned within their Ministries, branches and localities.

Those State offices and persons authorized to handle administrative violations must do it as stipulated by the Ordinance, and must resolutely stop doing it arbitrarily, or beyond its authority, or with undue delays, or impose a fine to allow the violations to continue. At the same time, those officials who are authorized to impose fines but handle administrative violations at variance with law, must be sternly punished.

3. From now to the end of August 1995, the following Ministries and branches must urgently complete documents stipulating in details the implementation of a number of issues in the contents of the Ordinance on Handling Administrative Violations:

- The Ministry of Justice shall preside and collaborate with the Ministry of the Interior and the agencies and organizations concerned to draft a Decree to issue Regulations on educational measures applicable to offenders at villages, wards and townships as stipulated in Article 21 of the Ordinance.

- The Ministry of the Interior shall preside and cooperate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Vietnam Committee for Protection and Care of Children, and the agencies concerned to draft a Decree on the issue of Regulations on the measures to handle administrative violations: sending to re-education schools and centers, or putting under administrative control those offenders stipulated in Articles 22, 23, and 25 of the Ordinance and the Decree on compulsory implementation of the Decision on handling administrative violations.

- The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall consult the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of the Interior, and the agencies and organizations concerned to draft a Decree on the issue of Regulations on measures to send to treatment centers those offenders stipulated in Article 24 of the Ordinance.

- The Ministry of Finance shall consult the other Ministries and branches concerned to draft a document stipulating the organization and forms of paying fines, the management of receipts on fine payments and of fine payments.

4. The Ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, and the agencies attached to the Government within their functions must urgently revise the existing legal documents on handling administrative violations, amend and supplement them in line with the stipulations of the Ordinance on Handling Administrative Violations and, from now to the end of the third quarter of 1995 at the latest, submit them to the Government for issuance. With regard to other laws and ordinances on handling administrative violations, the Ministries and branches concerned must draft revised versions and submit them to the Government for consideration, and the Government shall submit them to the National Assembly and its Standing Committee for decision in order to ensure the uniformity of the legal system in handling administrative violations.

5. Regarding those areas where there are no legal documents on handling administrative violations, the Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and the agencies attached to the Government shall have to draft them and submit them to the Government for issuance from now to the end of the fourth quarter of 1995.

a/ The Ministry of Water Resources shall draft a document on handling administrative violations in the protection of dykes and irrigation works;

b/ The Ministry of Construction shall draft a document on handling administrative violations in the management of construction and housing, and on the management of urban projects;

c/ The General Land Administration shall draft a document on handling administrative violations on land use;

d/ The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment shall draft a document on handling administrative violations in environmental protection;

e/ The Ministry of Trade shall draft a document on handling administrative violations in commerce;

f/ The Ministry of Communications and Transport shall draft a document on handling administrative violations in the management and protection of communication projects;

g/ The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall draft a document on handling administrative violations in labor safety;

h/ The Ministry of Culture and Information shall draft a document on handling administrative violations in culture and information;

i/ The Ministry of Defense shall draft a document on handling administrative violations in national defense;

j/ The Government Pricing Committee shall draft a document on handling administrative violations in the management of prices.

In addition to the above-mentioned areas, the other Ministries and branches, basing themselves on the requirement for State management, shall draft documents on handling administrative violations in the branches under their management, and submit them to the Government for consideration and issuance.

6. From August 1st, 1995, the People's Councils of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government shall not issue new documents on handling administrative violations. Those legal documents on handling administrative violations issued earlier by the People's Councils of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government on issues for which the Government has not yet made stipulations and which are not contrary to the new Ordinance on Handling Administrative Violations shall continue to be applied till the Government promulgates new documents on those issues.

At the same time, the People's Councils and the People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government, basing themselves on the reality and requirement for State management in their localities, shall submit documents on handling administrative violations to the Government for consideration and issuance for application in their localities.

7. The Ministry of Justice shall help the Government in urging, supervising and cooperating with the Ministries and branches concerned in drafting legal documents on handling administrative violations.

The Ministers, the Heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the Heads of the agencies attached to the Government, and the Presidents of the People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government shall have to organize and closely direct the work, and shall report every 3 months to the Prime Minister on the results in implementing this Directive.

The Prime Minister