“As a State party to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), Vietnam took prompt action to build the report. Vietnam also considered this an important opportunity for competent agencies to revise comprehensively its legal system and practical anticorruption work,” Huynh Phong Tranh, Chief Government Inspector, said at the workshop to share the results of the first self-assessment of the implementation of UNCAC in Vietnam. The event was organised in Hanoi by the Government Inspectorate of Vietnam in collaboration with the United Nations.
New experience….
At the workshop, the representative of the Government Inspectorate of Vietnam said Vietnam was chosen to be the UNCAC State party under review in 2011 in the first review cycle. This cycle focuses on reviewing Chapter III on criminalisation and law enforcement and Chapter IV on international cooperation, including 35 articles and 180 specific questions which consists of 145 questions about level of compliance to UNCAC requirements and 35 questions about technical assistance needs (there are also 5 other questions on general information about UNCAC ratification, legal system, UNCAC status in domestic legal system and advantages and difficulties in UNCAC implementation). Out of 145 questions about compliance (which correspond to 145 UNCAC requirements), 96 relate to obligatory provisions; 28 relate to provisions that need being considered to be applied, implemented or adopted and 21 deal with provisions that are may be considered to be applied or implemented. Compliance questions are categorised in four answer options. Option 1: adopted and fully implemented the measures described; Option 2: partly adopted and implemented the measures described but has not fully complied with, Option 3: not adopted and implemented the measures described or not complied with; Option 4: No information.
Through the self-assessment, it can be seen that Vietnam adopted and fully implemented 102 out of 145 UNCAC requirements; partly adopted and implemented 29 out of 145 UNCAC requirements; has not adopted and implemented 14 UNCAC requirements (mostly Vietnam reserves or claims not to be bound in the implementation process). Option 2 chosen to 29 requirements and Option 3 chosen for 14 requirements reflect the factual situation of Vietnamese legal system and harmonise with Vietnamese reservations and declarations upon UNCAC ratification. In general, Vietnam met most UNCAC requirements within the scope of the first review cycle.
However, Vietnam also identified certain areas that have not yet been in accordance with the Convention’s requirements as well as difficulties and challenges in meeting more comprehensively UNCAC requirements, especially requirements regarding the improvement of legal provisions on criminal issues, criminal proceedings and mutual legal assistance.
Mr Tranh said: Making the self-assessment report is a new experience for Vietnam. As a State party to the Convention, Vietnam took prompt action to build the report. Vietnam also considered this an important opportunity for competent agencies to revise comprehensively its legal system and practical anticorruption work.
Policy-enforcing challenges
International review experts, including Italian and Lebanese experts, with support from the Secretariat to the Conference of the States Parties (COSP) to UNCAC, gave comments basically similar to Vietnam self-assessment. Regarding the review procedures (in accordance with a Resolution of Conference of State Parties to UNCAC), Vietnam fully satisfied requirements and was one of first state parties completing the review process in the second year. As regards UNCAC implementation results, experts basically agreed with Vietnam answer options and carefully analysed and compared compliance with the Convention both in terms of legal system, practical implementation and technical assistance.
UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, Pratibha Mehta, said the Government of Vietnam well met requirements of the review mechanism and included an intensive process of consultations and discussions within the Inter-Agency Task Force, including with mass organisations and non-State actors. “The UN focused in particular on supporting aspects related to public reporting, participation of civil society and on the collection, exchange and analysis of information on corruption,” she noted.
Bryan Fornari, Deputy Head of Cooperation and Development at the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Vietnam in report making. “The UNCAC self-assessment report would provide inputs into the revision of Vietnam’s 2005 anti-corruption law, underlying that future challenges also relate to enforcement. Furthermore, the EU’s support to the good implementation of the UNDP/GI project, co-funded by the EU, which provided critical technical support to the process of drafting the UNCAC self-assessment report,” he added.
The EU has funded the project "Strengthening the capacity of the Government Inspectorate and the Government of Vietnam in monitoring and reporting on the corruption status and prevention (in line with UNCAC). The total funding was 800,000 euro, spent from 2009 to 2013.
This is part of the ongoing discussion on how to restructure the institutional set up to fight corruption. The UNCAC self-assessment provides important recommendations for the amendment of the anti-corruption law, including the need to close the gaps in terms of bribery, illicit enrichment.
Mr Tranh said UNCAC regulations are important references for Vietnam to revise or supplement its legal documents and build a modern legal framework to prevent and control corruption in line with the convention’s requirements and Vietnam’s situation.
Quynh Chi
Vietnamese
