National Assembly delegates propose 'confiscation of assets of unexplained origin'

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, more than 40 countries in the world have regulations on handling assets of unclear legal origin.

On the morning of November 21, discussing the draft Law on Anti-Corruption (amended), many National Assembly deputies proposed regulations on a mechanism to handle the assets of officials and civil servants whose legal origins cannot be explained.

Citing figures from the Government's report, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy - Standing member of the Judiciary Committee, said that in the past 10 years, the damage caused by corruption was over VND59,700 billion and 400 hectares of land, but the amount recovered was only over VND4,600 billion and 219 hectares of land, or about 10%.

"There are many reasons for the difficulty in recovering corrupt assets, one of which is that the law does not have a mechanism to promptly handle corrupt assets," said Ms. Thuy.

Delegate Nguyen Thi Thuy - Standing member of the Judiciary Committee. Photo: NA

The female delegate analyzed that in recent times, there have been a number of cases where assets were declared incorrectly, but they only received disciplinary reprimand, warning or dismissal, but "they could not touch the assets whose legal origin they could not explain". Meanwhile, the draft Law still stipulates how to handle those who make incorrect declarations. Specifically, if that person is expected to be appointed, he/she will not be appointed anymore; if he/she already has a position, depending on the level, he/she may be dismissed or demoted.

"For assets whose legal origin cannot be explained, the draft will continue to be open, without a handling mechanism as before," she emphasized.

Through studying international experience, Ms. Thuy said that there are more than 40 countries in the world that have regulations on handling assets of unclear legal origin. Among them, many countries have many similarities with Vietnam such as poor social income control system and common cash spending habits.

For example, China's Criminal Law stipulates that any public official whose assets or expenses exceed his or her legal income, if there is a significant difference, may be asked to explain the legal origin of that asset. If the public official fails to explain, the assets exceeding his or her legal income will be considered illegal and confiscated; in addition, he or she may be imprisoned for up to five years.

According to Ms. Thuy, the recovery of corrupt assets in China is carried out very thoroughly, "when recovered, expensive watches and pens are also recovered."

"We hope that the Drafting Committee will take this issue to heart and discuss it thoroughly from many aspects in the coming time," Ms. Thuy suggested.

"Tracing to the source of all assets"

Sharing the same view with delegate Thuy, Mr. Nguyen Ba Son - Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Da Nang City, said that it is necessary to supplement regulations on unexplained assets, thereby giving authority to the authorities to "track down the origin of all types of assets".

"The transfer of ownership and establishment of ownership for large but uncontrolled assets has become a shelter to hide corrupt assets," said Mr. Son.

This delegate also said, "If you cannot prove it is legal, the state has the right to confiscate it in the name of society."

Delegate Truong Trong Nghia also agreed with the above opinions. "I see a principle issue here, that is, every citizen has the right to legally own property and every citizen's property must be transparent, not just officials," said Mr. Nghia.

According to him, in other countries, ordinary people have to prove that their assets are legal, "otherwise the tax department will jump in and if you can't explain, they will handle it immediately."

Regarding the above opinions, delegate Nguyen Chien expressed concern, "If people cannot explain the origin of their assets and immediately confiscate them, I am afraid that is not in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution on people's property rights."

According to VNE