VietNamNet Bridge – The role of the People's Procuracy in civil hearings divided deputies when they debated proposed changes to the Civil Procedure Code at a plenary session of the National Assembly yesterday, Nov 25.

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The key principle in the civil process was the legal right to change decisions or enter voluntary agreements, she said.

The deputy said Civil Procedure Code stipulated that the procuracy must consider all documents relevant to the civil process when it was introduced in 2004 but this had later proved unnecessary.

The code had later been changed to exclude the procuracy from a number of hearings.

"It would be a retrograde step to reintroduce the procuracy to civil trials," she said.

Deputy Vo Thi Thuy Loan, southern Tien Giang Province, agreed.

"It's not necessary for the procuracy to be involved in all hearings," argued the deputy who used divorce as an example to support her argument.

"The intervention of the procurator in divorce proceedings was unnecessary and would make the process longer and more complicated," she said.

It could also invade the couple's privacy.

Other deputies argued that the presence of the procuracy at civil hearings would ensure objective judgements.

Opinions

The procurator could provide opinions about the performance of the judge, jury and the contestants, said deputy Pham Quoc, southern Dong Nai Province.

The procuracy would act as an observer and monitor of the court's judgement.

Deputy Ha Cong Long, Central-Highland Gia Lai Province, said the procuracy's presence was indispensable to objective opinions about verdicts.

Some deputies worried about what they said was a lack of detail in the amended regulations governing reconsideration and review.

The process for reconsidering the People's Supreme Court Judgement Council's verdicts should be more rigorous and include National Assembly committees, said deputies Tran Thi Phuong Hoa, northern Nam Dinh Province, and Dinh Xuan Thao, southern Kien Giang Province.

Most deputies agreed with the amendment to assign an independent authority to assess property to reduce the judiciary's workload.

Co-operative Law

Lawmakers yesterday also discussed the amended Co-operative Law, of which the regulations on product supply and employment were said to be overcomplicated and therefore inappropriate.

The draft document stipulates that the supply of a co-operative's products and services for outside markets could account for no more than 40 per cent of the total value of all products and services it produces.

It also sets 40 per cent as the maximum percentage of the co-operative's jobs that can be taken by non-members.

Such regulations would cause problems for co-operatives in the future, said deputy Nguyen Tien Quan from central Quang Nam Province.

Some small craft co-operatives have just a dozen or so members but are able to create hundreds and even thousands of seasonal jobs across the country. "If the amended law is passed, will all of these co-operatives break it?" said Quan.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News