The State Budget has paid more than 7.2 billion VND compensation for Nguyen Thanh Chan's case in Bac Giang province. (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - The Vietnamese government compensated 111 billion VND (4.9 million USD) for the mistreatment by authorities against residents in the last six years, the Ministry of Justice has reported.
The figure was released in a conference in Hanoi on January 8 reviewing the implementation of the Law on State Compensation Liability, which was not adopted until 2009 and came into effect a year later.
According to the ministry's Department of State Compensation, governmental agencies have finished procedures to grant compensation to 204 out of a total of 258 complaint cases received so far, or 79 percent. The remaining cases are due to be resolved this year.
Compensation for wrongdoings in judicial proceedings topped the three causes for state compensation – together with misconduct in administrative management and law enforcement procedures – in terms of amount. It reached more than 56 billion VND (2.5 billion USD), about half the total figure the government compensated the residents.
The case of Luong Ngoc Phi set the record for a state compensation amount when a Thai Binh city court in November 2015 ordered nearly 23 billion VND (1 million USD) to be granted to Phi.
He was wrongly convicted of tax evasion and appropriation of state property in 1999 and had to spend 15 years to clear his name.
The latest victim, Huynh Van Nen from the central province of BinhThuan, who had to stay behind bars for 17 years due to false convictions in two murders in the 1990s, was yet to claim any compensation from the authorities, but many believed the number would also be very high.
Since the law came into effect in 2010, it has been "an important measure to improve the responsibility of state employees and to promote the residents' rights," said Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Khanh Ngoc at the conference.
The former part, however, is still doubtful as state officials found responsible for causing misconduct were fined little to nothing.
Involved officials only contributed about 676 million VND (30,000 USD), or merely 6 percent, to the total amount the state had to pay the residents for compensation.
"The liability of the officials responsible was yet to be seriously handled, making the deterrent effect less likely," said the State Compensation Department Head Nguyen Van Bon.-VNA
