Posted on 29 September 2016
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On 14-16 September 2016 the Government Inspectorate of Viet Nam and the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) organized a Workshop on Amendments of Anti-Corruption Law in compliance with the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
The workshop was chaired by Dr. Nguyen Van Kim, Acting Director of Judicial Department of the Government Inspectorate of Viet Nam, Dr. Tran Duc Luong, Head of the Anti-Corruption Law Editing Team, Former Deputy Inspector General and Member of the Anti-Corruption Law Editing Team and Mr. Francesco Checchi, Anti-Corruption Adviser, UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Representatives from national authorities, including the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice, together with experts from the Anti-Corruption Bureau and from other local institutes took part in the event. Dr. Nguyen Van Kim introduced the main contents of the amended Anti-Corruption Law and Mr. Checchi provided comments and suggestions to the draft of the anti-corruption law in compliance with the provisions of the Convention.
Overall, the participants agreed with the key amendments of the draft of the Anti-Corruption Law presented at the workshop. UNODC acknowledged the progress which has been made, with particular regard to the better compliance with the requirements of the UN Convention against Corruption.
Mr. Checchi emphasized the necessity to: i) take strong measures to prevent and combat corruption in the private sector; ii) provide specific provisions and tools to effectively handle asset declaration and asset recovery; iii) have effective mechanisms in place to prevent, detect, report corruption and iv) protect the media with regard to the dissemination of news on corruption cases. Regulations to make competent authorities responsible for dealing with anonymous reporting should be further strengthened. Reports indeed are a valuable source of information, as international practices show. "Gifts received by public servants must be reported and restrictions must be put in place" added Mr. Checchi.
Furthermore, a general data system should be implemented to manage asset and income declarations, in connection with asset management data system of bank accounts of people in positions of power.
Participants enthusiastically reviewed and discussed each article of the draft of the Anti-Corruption Law with reference to UNCAC, and Vietnamese anti-corruption laws and practices as well.
The workshop was an important step to prepare for the revision and submission of the Anti-Corruption Law at the 2nd meeting of National Assembly Session XIV. It contributed also to the preparation of the UNCAC Implementation Review mechanism of Viet Nam, which will take place at the end of 2016, during the 2nd assessment cycle.
By Ngô Mạnh Hùng
A version of this article was originally published in Vietnamese on
http://thanhtra.gov.vn/ct/news/Lists/PhongChongThamNhung/View_Detail.aspx?ItemID=485
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