Ensuring people's access to information

On the afternoon of March 24, the National Assembly continued to discuss in the hall the draft Law on Access to Information.

One of the issues mentioned by many delegates is the scope of regulation of the draft Law, accordingly, it is necessary to expand the subjects providing information.

Delegate Nguyen Huu Hung (Tien Giang Delegation) spoke

Delegate Tran Ngoc Vinh (Hai Phong) said that it is not enough to stipulate that only State agencies are responsible for providing information. It is necessary to stipulate that organizations, public service units, and State-owned enterprises using the State budget must also be responsible for providing information.

According to Mr. Vinh, in reality, information sources from social organizations and units using the State budget will contribute significantly to information transparency as well as the work of preventing and combating corruption. If the draft Law does not stipulate the above subjects, it will not ensure fairness between agencies and the right to access information of citizens.

Sharing this issue, delegate Nguyen Huu Hung (Tien Giang) proposed adding the responsibility of providing information to the offices of ministries and offices of ministerial-level agencies. According to delegate Hung, the regulation for the offices of ministries is consistent with the role, functions and tasks of the ministry.

Also discussing the responsibility of providing information, delegate Huynh Van Tinh (Tien Giang) suggested that the People's Committee at the commune level is the place to receive information from higher levels, and at the same time, is the place to have a lot of contact with the people, so it is necessary to give more power to the People's Committee at the commune level in providing information, creating conditions for people to access information, ensuring the spirit of "people know, people discuss, people do, people check", suitable to the practical conditions of Vietnam.

Many delegates also proposed to clearly stipulate in the draft Law the types of information that citizens can access, the types of information that citizens cannot access, and the types of information that citizens can access with conditions.

According to delegate Mai Thi Anh Tuyet (An Giang), the right to access information is the right of every citizen. However, it is necessary to specify which information is a business secret, which content is not confidential and must be provided to serve the community.

Delegate Ho Thi Thuy (Vinh Phuc) suggested that the terms simple information and complex information need to be clarified to avoid abuse to delay information provision.

According to delegate Dinh Xuan Thao (Hanoi), if we only limit the regulation allowing people to access information created by State agencies and remove the information held by the State, it needs to be reconsidered, because in practice, in the process of performing their functions, State management agencies not only create information but also hold a lot of information.

Also in this afternoon's discussion session, issues regarding procedures, deadlines for providing information, responsibility for handling inaccurate information, information disclosure on electronic portals and websites, costs of accessing information, handling violations, etc. were also discussed by delegates.

Proposals should clearly define the responsibility for compensation for damages caused by providing inaccurate information, and some proposals should clearly state the responsibility of the user of the information provided.

According to Chinhphu.vn