Discussion of the draft Law on Organization of People's Courts (amended)

On the afternoon of June 3, National Assembly deputies discussed in the hall the draft Law on Organization of People's Courts (amended). Through the discussion, the majority of opinions agreed with the guiding viewpoint in drafting the draft Law on Organization of People's Courts (amended).

National Assembly delegate of Thai Binh province Pham Xuan Thuong speaks. Photo: VNA

Opinions say that the amendment must fully institutionalize the Party's policies on judicial reform, concretize the provisions of the 2013 Constitution stipulating that "The People's Court is the judicial body of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, exercising judicial power"; clarify the system, structure, and organization of people's courts and the structure and organization of the apparatus in each people's court as well as the organizational management mechanism of people's courts to ensure the independence of trial activities, meeting the requirements of judicial reform.

Regional first instance people's courts should be established.

Discussing the issue of establishing regional first-instance people's courts, many National Assembly deputies agreed with option 1 (Article 32) of the draft Law.

According to delegates, such establishment will contribute to overcoming the current limitations and shortcomings in the organization of district-level people's courts, while strengthening the independence of regional first-instance people's courts in adjudication as well as focusing on investment in facilities and staff, avoiding dispersion...

According to delegates Tran Van Do (An Giang), Bui Manh Hung (Binh Phuoc), Dang Cong Ly (Binh Dinh), and Vi Thi Huong (Dien Bien), the establishment of regional first-instance people's courts will help overcome the current limitations and shortcomings in the organization of district-level people's courts.

On the other hand, the establishment of a regional first instance people's court will not create too great a demand for human resources and facilities, nor will it cause difficulties for people in traveling when they have work to be resolved at court.

In addition, the organization of regional first-instance people's courts is a premise for innovating the leadership of Party committees and the supervision of People's Councils over the organization and operation of people's courts in a more practical and effective direction, thereby creating conditions to ensure that courts perform well in adjudication, contributing to political stability, order, social security, and national construction and development.

However, some delegates said that it is not advisable to establish a regional people's court of first instance, because people in many localities, especially remote areas, will have difficulty accessing the prosecution agencies and the budget will have to spend a large amount of money on building headquarters and organizing the apparatus.

Need to build and develop precedents

Regarding the construction and development of precedents, many National Assembly deputies agreed with the regulation assigning the Supreme People's Court to build precedents as in the draft law.

Delegates Ho Thi Thuy (Vinh Phuc), Dang Cong Ly (Binh Dinh)... said that in order to be consistent with the Vietnamese legal tradition, a precedent is defined as a final decision of the Supreme People's Court's Judicial Council on a specific case that contains arguments, clarifies unclear legal provisions, and has different interpretations, and assesses serious errors in the application of the law in the judgment or decision that has come into effect of the Court, on that basis, points out the unified application and handling approach for that specific case, selected by the Supreme People's Court's Judicial Council as a standard for the Courts to study and follow in adjudication, in order to ensure the unified application of the law and ensure justice according to the principle that cases with similar circumstances must be judged the same.

According to the delegates, precedents do not replace legal documents; the Supreme People's Court can flexibly change precedents when there are changes in the law.

The regulation of precedents in the above direction will meet the requirement of promptly resolving difficulties and problems in adjudication work, overcoming the overload and slow issuance of documents guiding the application of the law.

Furthermore, the publication of precedents will help people understand the way of judging and predict the results of cases related to their rights and interests. On the Court side, referring to precedents and analyzing shortcomings in previous trials will also help judges learn from experience and limit wrongful convictions.

Many contents have different opinions

Commenting on the term of office of judges, many opinions agreed with option 1 (Article 57) on the term of office of judges as "judges of the Supreme People's Court are appointed without term. The term of office of judges is 10 years."

Delegate Ho Thi Thuy (Vinh Phuc) and several other delegates said that the term of office of judges according to current regulations (5 years) is short and inappropriate, more or less creating a feeling of insecurity in judges' work.

On the other hand, this regulation is too strict while the reappointment process is very complicated and requires many steps as well as takes a lot of time. At the same time, such a regulation puts psychological pressure on judges and affects human resources in the trial work. Currently, many units and judges are sitting around waiting to be reappointed while there are many pending cases that are not being tried.

However, some opinions suggest that the first term of a judge should only be 5 years, and if the judge completes his/her duties well and is reappointed, the following terms should be 10 years, in order to ensure caution in evaluating and appointing officials, creating motivation to strive to improve the moral qualities and responsibilities of judges in performing their duties, especially in the first term.

Discussing the judge ranks, some opinions agreed with the regulation that judge positions will be divided into four ranks, including supreme court judge, senior judge, intermediate judge, and primary judge.

This provision is consistent with the provisions of current laws on cadres, civil servants and civil servant ranks. At the same time, it ensures a clear differentiation of the team of judges in terms of standards, moral qualities, professional qualifications, professional capacity, and work experience. The higher the rank of a judge, the higher the standards must be; consistent with the selection mechanism when first appointed or promoted to a judge rank and the organization of four-level people's courts.

However, some opinions say that there should only be two categories of judges, including judges of the Supreme People's Court and judges.

According to delegate Huynh Ngoc Anh (Ho Chi Minh City), the regulation of the title of judge in four ranks not only causes psychological discomfort but also makes it difficult to mobilize officials. Therefore, it should be divided into only two ranks: judge and judge of the Supreme People's Court.

Also discussing the draft Law on the organization of people's courts (amended), delegates gave comments on the establishment of a simplified court in the organizational structure of people's courts; retirement age of judges...

Previously, on the morning of June 3, National Assembly deputies discussed in groups the draft Law on the Organization of the National Assembly - one of the particularly important draft Laws on the organizational system that is prioritized for comments on amendments at this session, in order to implement the National Assembly's Resolution on the implementation of the Constitution.

This draft Law has major adjustments in structure compared to the current Law, including 6 chapters with 112 articles regulating the position, functions and tasks of the National Assembly, National Assembly sessions, National Assembly deputies, the National Assembly Standing Committee, the National Assembly Chairman, the National Assembly Vice Chairmen, the Nationality Council and the National Assembly Committees, the National Assembly agencies and implementation provisions.

The main concerns in the discussions during the working session on the morning of June 3 regarding the draft Law on the Organization of the National Assembly were issues related to promoting the effectiveness of the activities of National Assembly deputies, such as the number of full-time National Assembly deputies; the service, assistance and treatment regime for National Assembly deputies; and the position, role, powers and responsibilities of National Assembly deputies at the central and local levels.

Most of the opinions expressed at the groups in Hanoi, Hung Yen, Can Tho, and Da Nang agreed with the draft Law on increasing the number of full-time National Assembly deputies from 25% to 35%.

However, some opinions suggest that the number of full-time delegates should be gradually increased with each term to ensure that the National Assembly operates more and more professionally.

Delegate Pham Huy Hung (Hanoi) suggested that the draft Law should stipulate a gradual increase in the number of full-time delegates for each term, in which the percentage for the number of full-time delegates at the Central and local levels should be specifically determined, taking into account ethnic factors and social classes.

Delegate Pham Huy Hung also suggested that the draft should specifically quantify the working time as well as supplement specific rights and obligations of non-professional delegates before, during and after the session. The draft also needs to further innovate contact forms in a more widespread and flexible manner.

Agreeing with the proposal to increase the number of full-time National Assembly deputies from 25% to 35%, delegate Nguyen Duc Chung (Hanoi) said that there should be open regulations on this issue to suit each period and the need to improve the quality of the National Assembly's activities.

Emphasizing that National Assembly deputies are the core and center of the Law on Organization of the National Assembly, delegate Nguyen Dinh Quyen (Hanoi) said that the draft Law needs to ensure that it responds to three requirements stated in the Constitution on the position and role of the National Assembly, including the highest representative body of the people, the highest State power body and the legislative body. Commenting that the scope of the draft Law is still unclear. The delegate suggested that the draft Law needs to enhance the role and position and further promote the effectiveness of the activities of National Assembly deputies.

Welcoming a new point in this draft, which is the regulation on accountability activities, delegate Nguyen Dinh Quyen suggested using the word "hearing" instead of "explanation" to conform with international parliamentary practices, and at the same time, it is necessary to further specify the value and legal effect of hearings to contribute to perfecting and overcoming loopholes in policy mechanisms, and improving the effectiveness of State management. Delegate Nguyen Dinh Quyen also suggested that it is necessary to clearly stipulate the age of National Assembly deputies in the draft Law.

Regarding ensuring the operating mechanism of National Assembly deputies, delegate Nguyen Duc Chung (Hanoi) suggested considering the establishment of a support office to maximize the effectiveness of the National Assembly deputies' operations.

Delegate Huynh Van Tiep (Can Tho) proposed that it is necessary to clearly demonstrate the responsibility of National Assembly deputies in supervising the law compliance activities of People's Councils and People's Committees.

Some other opinions also proposed to improve the legislative process in the direction that for the first time of giving opinions on each draft law, if there are still issues with different opinions, the National Assembly should immediately vote; avoiding the situation of discussing the same issue over and over again, saving time for the National Assembly.

According to the Program, tomorrow morning (June 4), the National Assembly will work in the hall to listen to the Government's Report on the draft Investment Law (amended) and discuss the draft Law on Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Civil Aviation of Vietnam.

According to Vietnam+