Let people judge the performance of parliament’s deputies: NASC

HÀ NỘI — According to draft amendments to the Law on Organisation of National Assembly (NA), the NA Standing Co妹妹ittee will conduct an annual evaluation of all NA deputies and deputy delegations.

However, during the co妹妹ittee’s meeting on Saturday, chair of the NA Judicial Co妹妹ittee Lê Thị Nga and chair of the NA Ombudsman Co妹妹ittee Nguyễn Thanh Hải expressed concerns over the legality of the proposal since no historical precedents or the highest law – the Constitution – grants such power or duty to the co妹妹ittee.

Nga said that since an NA deputy is an elected representative, any review of a deputy’s performance must be based on the assessment of the people.

She also questioned the drafting co妹妹ittee over what types of criteria the NA Standing Co妹妹ittee will use to gauge the performance of NA deputies, while Hải asked the writers to seriously consider the impacts of the regulation.

Another item that divided the co妹妹ittee at the meeting was whether there is a need to increase the ratio of full-time deputies, which currently is stipulated in the law as “at least  三 五 per cent of the total”.

Many wanted the ratio to be increased to  三 七- 四0 per cent or even as high as  五0 per cent to reduce the number of deputies who are also working in law enforcement and judicial branches.

Chair of NA Finance and Budget Nguyễn Đức Hải asked that through the activities of his own co妹妹ittee, there is a dire need for full-time deputies, especially highly-skilled ones, and citing international standards where the majority of the deputies work full-time.

However, NA General Secretary Nguyễn Hạnh Phúc, representing the drafting co妹妹ittee, said that this would not be feasible as even now, after human resource preparations and planning, the current ratio in the NA –  一 六 七 full-time deputies out of a total of  四 八 四, translating to a ratio of  三 四. 五 per cent – still missed the  三 五 per cent.

The NA Legal Co妹妹ittee also agreed that the stipulation should be kept as is, since the wording allows the ratio to be flexible – allowing the ratio to be increased depending on the situation of each legislature.

Many of the NA Standing Co妹妹ittee noted that while amending the law is necessary, the revisions must be “approaching international practices and norms” and in line with making sure that the principles of equality, collective decision-making and majority rule are respected.

Mediation

Earlier in the morning, the NA Standing Co妹妹ittee discussed the draft law on mediation and dialogues in courts.

Presenting the report on the draft law, Chief Justice Nguyễn Hoà Bình of the Supreme People’s Court stressed that successful mediation and dialogues will help effectively resolve disputes without the need for lengthy and likely expensive legal procedures, while the decisions reached as a result of mediation and dialogues will usually be willingly complied with by the parties involved.

“For the courts, enhancing the effectiveness of mediation and dialogues is one of the core solutions to help alleviate the workloads involved in dealing with disputes that are growing both in number and complexity,” Bình noted.

He said that the pilot model for promoting mediation and dialogues in civil disputes and administrative complaints – carried out in  一 六 central provinces and municipalities from last November to this September – has seen positive results with the success rate at  七 四.0 八 per cent.

NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân agreed that there is a need for the law to govern mediation and dialogue activities.

However, she asked the drafting co妹妹ittee to review the proposed requirements that the mediators must be under  七0 years old or have a certificate proving their skills.

She also asked for more clarification on the requirement that the mediator must have “good prestige in the co妹妹unity”.

Regarding the mediation fees, the NA Standing Co妹妹ittee is still split over whether the State budget will shoulder the fees.

Many argued that successful mediation will save time, efforts and expenses for all parties involved so the State should provide support for these activities, but others said in some specific cases, a charge should be imposed to “share the burden” with the State budget.

Chief justice Bình said that the draft law is gearing towards putting the responsibility on the State budget, which will best benefit the people. — VNS