Lawmakers examine association law, complaints report

The National Assembly (NA) Committee for Legal Affairs convened the 22nd plenary session in the central province of Thua Thien – Hue on September 30 to discuss the draft Law on Associations and examine the Government’s report on complaint settlement in 2015.

Deputy Head of the committee Pham Tri Thuc said establishing associations is a fundamental right of citizens, recognised in the country’s first Constitution in 1946 and later in 2013.

Over the past years, social and mass organisations (commonly named “associations”) have developed robustly with various activities. This is a positive manifestation of the social democratisation that promotes the people’s right of mastery in the national development and international integration.

Lawmakers agreed on the necessity of promulgating the law to ensure the public right to establish associations while upholding their active function in social affairs and enhancing State management in the field.

A number of opinions held that the Law on Associations should clearly demonstrate the management responsibilities of ministries and sectors at all levels, simplify administrative procedures for association operations and minimise State subsidy.

Regarding the handling of complaints, Deputy Inspector General Nguyen Duc Hanh reported that after the National Assembly passed the Law on Citizen Reception, the number of complaints and denunciations decreased remarkably in 2015.

Periodic citizen receptions of the Government Inspector General, the Minister and Chairman of the Governmental Office and local authorities have helped reduce the number of citizens travelling to central-level reception centres.

The Government requested ministries, sectors and localities proactively handle public complaints and denunciations and ensure political and social order, as well as address shortcomings in management across the board and promulgate policies to limit complaint cases.

Lawmakers will work until October 3 to examine the draft revised regulation on NA sittings and give opinions on the draft revised Law on Civil Code and the draft Law on Access to Information.-VNA