Amending the Inspection Law: Should the district-level inspection model be abolished or maintained?

On the afternoon of May 26th, National Assembly delegates discussed the draft Law on Inspection (amended) in their respective groups. Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Central Committee of the Party, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, and Head of the Nghe An National Assembly Delegation - chaired the discussion in Group 11, which included delegates from the provinces of Bac Giang, Khanh Hoa, and Nghe An.

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Central Committee of the Party, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council of Nghe An, and Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An Province - presided over the discussion at Group 11. Photo: Phan Hau

Regarding the draft Law on Inspection (amended), concerning the organizational model of district-level inspection agencies, the discussion process revealed two opposing viewpoints: firstly, those who support maintaining the district-level inspection agency model, and secondly, those who advocate against establishing district-level inspection agencies.

Speaking at the group discussion that afternoon, delegate Vo Thi Minh Sinh - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province - stated, "Wherever there is management, there must be inspection"; thereby agreeing to maintain the district-level inspection system as before, but emphasizing the need to strengthen the capacity of the inspection team at this level.

Earlier, during the working session on the morning of May 26th, when presenting the report on the review of the draft Law on Inspection (amended), the Chairman of the Legal Committee, Hoang Thanh Tung, stated that the majority of opinions within the Legal Committee agreed with the first type of opinion, which is to continue maintaining the organizational model of the District-level Inspection agency.

Delegate Vo Thi Minh Sinh - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province, delivers a speech. Photo: Phan Hau.

Also related to the draft Law on Inspection (amended), regarding the content concerning the organization, functions, tasks, and powers of state inspection agencies, delegate Vo Thi Minh Sinh expressed concerns about the appropriateness of allowing the establishment of inspection organizations within general departments and departments of ministries and sectors. Does this content align with the Party and State's policy and guidelines on streamlining organizational structures, as outlined in Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW dated October 25, 2017, of the Sixth Plenum of the Central Committee of the 12th Party Congress on some issues concerning the continued reform and restructuring of the political system's organizational apparatus to be lean, effective, and efficient?

Resolution No. 56/2017/QH14 of the National Assembly on continuing the reform of the state administrative apparatus to be streamlined, effective, and efficient also clearly states: regulations on organizational structure and staffing should not be integrated into laws, ordinances, and resolutions of the National Assembly and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly that do not fall under the field of state apparatus organization. The representative also noted that the draft law did not seem to have sought the opinion of the Central Organization Committee, which is the Standing Committee of the Central Steering Committee on staffing management;…

According to the female delegate from Nghe An province, allowing the establishment of inspection organizations within the general departments and departments of ministries and sectors would increase administrative layers and personnel. Regarding this issue, any increase must begin with an increase in functions and tasks, only then can the organizational structure and job positions be expanded. However, the presentation did not include a plan for restructuring and reorganizing the organizational structure of inspection agencies through job positions. The Government Inspectorate's explanation stated that because a report on 10 years of implementing the Inspection Law had already been submitted, they would not implement the aforementioned plan. However, according to the delegate, the structure of this plan is completely different from the implementation of the 2010 Inspection Law.

Based on that analysis, delegate Vo Thi Minh Sinh suggested that this regulation be carefully reconsidered to align with the content of the draft law and the Party's policy on unifying and managing personnel.

Representative Vo Thi Minh Sinh also expressed concern that the draft Law on Inspection (amended) does not include provisions for developing a strategy for the inspection sector; while almost all ministries and sectors have developed their own sectoral strategies, she requested further clarification…

Thanh Duy - Phan Hau