Fraud fight to help business

The decree, which was approved on March 17 but will not become effective until 15 days after it is printed in the government’s official gazette, threatens punishment ranging from an official reprimand to termination of employment.
Legal analysts praised the decree as an effective tool for cracking down on corrupt officials, often cited by investors as a major hindrance to the business sector’s development.
“I am very happy that Decree 35 will be useful as a stick to govern civil servants who abuse their power to bother businesses,” said lawyer Nguyen Huy Thang, head of the Huy Thang Law Office under the Hanoi Attorney Delegation.
“We already have the Ordinance on Civil Servants, but it does not provide specific penalties for misconduct by civil servants. Now, Decree 35 clearly stipulates the cases where the civil servants will be warned or fired,” he said.
Thang said he had many clients who had asked for help in dealing with civil servants abusing their power.
“In such cases, the citizens all sent denouncement reports to the bodies that manage the civil servants. However, very few serious punishments have been made,” he said.
Under the Ordinance on Civil Servants and related legal



stipulations, management bodies of state agencies must verify denouncement reports and set up a punishment council if the reports are proven true, but they often fail to do so in practice.
“A typical case is the confiscation of goods from people in the southern province of Long An by Hai Duong province’s market management officers. The owner of the goods disagreed with the force’s working manner and complained to the relevant bodies. However, the province’s Market Management Division did not inspect its staff,” he said.
“The division did not receive and verify the invoice for the confiscated goods, which was sent one day later, and it considered the goods smuggled. That indicated a lack of respect for citizens,” he said.
Pham Chi Lan, a member of the prime minister’s research team and a former deputy chairperson of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said regulations governing the power of civil servants were still vague.
“Many civil servants are not sure about their own rights and the authority of a state management body. Thus people working for a state body may think that they also have such authority,” she said.
“Civil servants must do what regulations stipulate,” she said.
“Still there is a lack of clarity, meaning civil servants’ authority is provided for very broadly, even exceeding the level that they must have been allowed,” she said.
Lan stressed the importance of effectively enforcing laws that regulate civil servants.
“Regulations state that civil servants will be punished according to the laws for their violations. But this is not clear and therefore virtually no one has been punished for their behavioural misconduct and the trouble they make for others,” she said.
The deputy general director of a shareholding investment and construction company, who asked not to be identified, agreed with Lan. He said his company frequently dealt with delays caused by officials.
He said the introduction of the new decree would make civil servants more aware of their responsibilities to serve, and consequently facilitate, the activities of businesses.
“Civil servants will have to be more cautious doing their jobs since they will be subject to serious penalties for violations to regulations,” he said.