Party chief to visit US

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Nguyen Phu Trong, will pay an official visit to the US from July 6 to July 10 following an invitation from the US administration.

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Nguyen Phu Trong – Photo: VNA

Congratulations to US on 239th Independence Day

State President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on July 3 cabled greeting message to President Barack Obama on the occasion of the 239th Independence Day of the United States of America (July 4,1776-2015).

On this occasion, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung also conveyed his congratulations to President of the US Senate Joseph Biden and House Speaker John Boehner.

On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh sent his greetings to US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Forum suggests changes to corruption crime laws

The Government must step up law enforcement on corruption crimes, according to a forum held yesterday (July 3) by the Party Central Committee's Internal Affairs Commission.

Attendees of the forum, titled Enhancing Law Enforcement on Corruption Crimes - International Experiences and Lessons learnt for Viet Nam, discussed adding to existing regulations on corruption crimes in the Criminal Code.

The participants agreed that the regulations should include punishments for property declaration violations, bribes from the private sectors and to foreign officials.

They proposed adding non-material gifts to the list of what is considered a bribe and criminalising those who give bribes. Offenders would be charged fines for their crimes.

In the forum, the participants also discussed amendments to the Code of Prosecution.

To ensure effective law enforcement for corruption crimes, many participants suggested supplementing the code with regulations that give more power to prosecutors; more regulations on criminals' rights during investigations; policies on protecting information providers, denouncers and witnesses to acts of corruption; and withdrawing property acquired through corruption.

Nguyen Doan Khanh, deputy chairman of the Party Central Committee's Internal Affairs Commission, said anti-corruption agencies must be operated independently and given political support from State leaders and assistance from the public.

Complainants to get free legal guidance

About 100 lawyers and jurists will provide free legal advice to those lodging complaints or denunciations with the Central Citizen Reception Committee's Office in Ha Noi.

The announcement was made at a workshop between the Central Committee of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front (VFF), the Government Inspectorate of Viet Nam (GIV), the Viet Nam Bar Federation (VBF) and the Vietnamese Lawyers Association (VLA) on Wednesday in Ha Noi.

Vice President of the VFF Central Committee Nguyen Van Pha said the VFF has been working with the Ministry of Justice, GIV, VBF and VLA to offer supervision in multiple fields and improve the settlement of citizen complaints and denunciations at the local level.

Lack of legal knowledge is among the key contributing factors to the lengthy and complicated state of complaints and denunciations in the country, Pha said.

So the programme intends to give citizens free legal advice at the Central Citizen Reception Committee's Office, he explained, adding that Ha Noi will be the first municipality to conduct the programme before it is undertaken across the country. Citizens can also seek advice from the VLA.

Nguyen Hong Diep, head of the Central Division for Reception of Citizens under the Government Inspectorate, urged the active engagement of attending lawyers and requested the presence of these lawyers at the regular receptions of citizens of the Inspector-General and the Minister-Chairman of the Office of the Government.

Source: VNS/VNA