Vietnam’s anti-corruption fight will receive a boost after the country’s Criminal Code is revised, with more acts to be criminalised in line with international conventions to which Vietnam is a signatory, Justice Minister Ha Hung Cuong told the National Assembly at a hearing on June 12.

Accordingly, the law will cover corruption in the private sector as well as illicit enrichment when one cannot clarify the origin of their wealth, he said in response to questions on how to strengthen legal tools to fight corruption.

The justice minister, one of the four ministers and sector chief to appear before the seventh session of the National Assembly, was also queried about the delay in building laws and the problems in enforcing civil sentences.

He acknowledged that while the Government and the NA Standing Committee have asked to delay the drafting of 13 legal documents and scrap two others in the law and ordinance building programme since the beginning of this tenure, but he added that this number is much smaller than in the previous tenure.

The minister explained that the drafting of some bills had to be suspended for objective reasons, such as to make way for others more necessary for the implementation of the 2013 Constitution. However, he admitted that poor research and preparation were the reasons for the delay of some others.

Earlier on June 11, Minister Cuong was asked to clarify the responsibilities of ministries and agencies for the slowness in issuing legal guidance, as well as the fact that many such documents do not comply with the Constitution and higher laws.

The minister said while this problem cannot be solved immediately, many ministries and agencies have taken measures to punish those responsible for the delay.

In response to the concern of many deputies that many ministries tend to build legal documents with more rights but less responsibilities for themselves, the minister said the Justice Ministry would submit draft amendments to the Law on Legal Documents to the Government, and seek advice from experts, politicians and NA deputies to improve the situation.-VNA