"We only see journalists being punished, but not those who provide the information."

"Up until now, we've only seen penalties imposed on journalists and media organizations for publishing false information; we haven't seen any cases of penalties for obstructing the provision of information to the press," said lawyer Dinh Anh Tuan.speak.

The ASEAN Institute of Law and Economics (Vietnam Lawyers Association) recently organized a seminar to research and discuss the Law on Access to Information. The seminar was attended by many researchers, including Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quoc Suu (National Academy of Public Administration), and MSc. PhD Candidate Tran Van Duy (Vietnam Institute of Encyclopedias and Lexicography under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences)... Among them, the presentation by journalist and lawyer Dinh Anh Tuan attracted much attention and lively discussion because it presented a practical perspective from the journalistic field.

In the discussion, Mr. Dinh Anh Tuan wrote: When journalists request information and documents from agencies, organizations, or individuals, they need to exercise their rights as stipulated in the Press Law and guiding documents such as the Government Decree on administrative penalties in journalistic and publishing activities, or the Circular of the Ministry of Information and Communications on regulations for press interviews... The Law on Access to Information stipulates the right of citizens in general to request information from State agencies.

Comparing the two forms, providing information to the press is also more diverse than providing information to citizens. Basically, citizens are only provided with complete information that is ready for public disclosure; while the press is provided with both initial information, which can be direct verbal information or information received through audio and video recordings. The processing of the information provided also differs. The press uses the provided information to convey it to a wider audience; citizens use the information for their own benefit.

Journalist and lawyer Dinh Anh Tuan at the seminar.

However, the challenge in drafting the Law on Access to Information is ensuring that, upon implementation, public authorities are compelled to regularly fulfill their obligation to disclose information and cannot refuse to provide information when citizens request it. According to lawyer Dinh Anh Tuan, for the Law on Access to Information to be feasible and not merely a theoretical framework, the most important thing is that it must fully stipulate sanctions for violations by officials in state agencies when fulfilling their obligation to disclose and provide information. To achieve this, merely outlining the responsibilities of officials acting as the primary point of contact for information provision is insufficient; the responsibility of the head of the agency obligated to provide information must also be highlighted. When addressing violations, the responsibility of the head of the agency must be addressed first, followed by the responsibility of the person assigned to act as the primary point of contact for information provision.

Next, it is necessary to accurately identify the violations of the obligation to provide information. Specifically, the Law on Access to Information needs to include provisions to address the following actions by officials of state agencies: Failure to disclose information; Untimely disclosure of information; Incomplete disclosure of information; Inaccurate disclosure of information; Refusal to provide information upon citizen's request; Delay in providing information upon citizen's request; Providing incomplete information upon citizen's request; Providing false information upon citizen's request.

With the experience of a professional journalist with 20 years of experience in the field, Mr. Dinh Anh Tuan commented that if violations of the obligation to provide information are not fully and strictly regulated, they will have the opportunity to "hide" and appear very frequently in reality, and dealing with them will be very difficult.

To monitor the information provision process, Mr. Dinh Anh Tuan suggested that inspection and auditing work to detect violations, handle complaints, and impose administrative penalties for violations should be carried out by a specialized agency. According to Mr. Tuan, this task could be assigned to the Inspectorate of the Information and Communications sector (these inspection agencies are currently handling violations of the obligation to provide information to the press).

The entire scope of violations of the obligation to provide information to journalists and press agencies is only stipulated in Clause 1, Article 9 of Decree 159; the full text of this regulation is as follows: “A warning or a fine of VND 200,000 to VND 500,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts: a) Obstructing the provision of information to the press by organizations or individuals; b) Failing to make statements and provide information to the press as prescribed; c) Failing to comply with regulations on publishing and broadcasting statements of organizations or individuals related to journalistic works.”

With such a brief regulation as the one above, it is difficult to clearly understand what constitutes "obstructing the provision of information" or "failing to provide information to the press as required." At a seminar organized by the Vietnam Journalists Association, attended by inspectors from the Information and Communications sector, a lawyer commented: This lawyer has only seen Information and Communications inspectors penalizing violations by journalists and media outlets, such as requiring corrections for incorrect writing or publication; he has not seen any cases where Information and Communications inspectors have penalized the act of obstructing the provision of information to the press.

Based on the lessons learned from the implementation of the Press Law, Mr. Dinh Anh Tuan suggested that the Law on Access to Information should clearly define the violations as mentioned earlier, and should have specific regulations on penalties for each violation, in accordance with the Law on Handling Administrative Violations. For example, what is the penalty for "publicly disclosing inaccurate information," and what are the remedial measures to promptly disclose accurate information? These regulations could be included in a sub-legal document, such as a Government decree guiding the implementation of the Law on Access to Information.

Following the discussion, during the presentation phase, many delegates expressed their interest and agreement with Mr. Dinh Anh Tuan's opinions. According to the delegates, these were practical insights drawn from the author's own experience in journalism and the challenges he faces in the profession.

Infonet