Need to protect agencies and organizations that allow innovation

At the regular press briefing organized by the Ministry of Interior on the afternoon of June 16th, regarding the draft Decree on encouraging and protecting officials who dare to think and act, Minister of Interior Pham Thi Thanh Tra reported to the National Assembly that a proposal could be considered to the National Assembly to issue a pilot Resolution to protect officials who dare to think, act, and take responsibility for the common good.

To date, how has this draft Decree been developed, and will the Government issue the Decree or propose that the National Assembly issue a Resolution?

Regarding this matter, Mr. Nguyen Tuan Ninh, Director of the Department of Civil Servants and Public Employees, stated that his unit had promptly advised the leaders of the Ministry of Interior on the drafting of this Decree.

"We advised the Minister to establish a drafting committee and an editorial team to gather opinions from scientists and managers. We also advised the Ministry's leadership to organize workshops in all three regions, as well as workshops for central agencies, ministries, and departments," Mr. Ninh said.

Event - The need to protect agencies and organizations that allow innovation. — Mr. Nguyen Tuan Ninh - Director of the Department of Civil Servants and Public Employees.

Mr. Ninh stated that although the Government allowed the drafting of the Decree through a simplified procedure, this is a complex and sensitive Decree, so the Department of Civil Servants advised the Ministry's leadership to send a document to solicit opinions from ministries, departments, and centrally-administered provinces and cities.

Based on the compilation and incorporation of feedback received from written documents as well as comments made at the workshop, the Ministry of Interior has finalized the draft and submitted it to the Ministry of Justice for review.

“Based on the assessment of the Ministry of Justice, the Department continues to refine the draft decree in the spirit of adhering closely to the Party's guidelines and policies. In particular, it is in line with Conclusion 14 of the Politburo on encouraging and protecting dynamic, creative officials who dare to think for the common good and meet practical requirements. The decree is now basically complete with 5 chapters and 27 articles,” Mr. Ninh said.

Providing further information on the key points in the draft Decree, the Director of the Department of Civil Servants and Public Employees stated that, firstly, specific incentive policies are outlined, such as commendation, rewards, training, professional development, and early salary increases, etc.

Regarding protective measures, if an official implementing a newly approved proposal fails to complete or only partially completes the set objectives, or if risks or damages occur during implementation, they are exempt from these measures.

"In that document, we outlined eight points that exempted or mitigated criminal liability, disciplinary action, and responsibility for reimbursing the state budget," Mr. Ninh said.

Mr. Nguyen Tuan Ninh also stated that the next key point of the draft Decree is not only to protect officials who dare to think and act, but also to protect the agencies and individuals with the authority to decide on allowing the implementation of innovative proposals.

"Initially, the proposal only aimed to protect dynamic and innovative officials, but to implement this, authorization from the competent authority is required. Therefore, we must also protect the agencies, organizations, and individuals that permit innovation," Mr. Ninh shared.

Speaking about some current obstacles, Mr. Ninh said that in the incentive program, there are some aspects such as promotion and advancement that are currently conflicting with the Law on Civil Servants and Public Employees. Similarly, the issue of protecting officials when mitigating or exempting them from criminal responsibility is also conflicting with the Criminal Law…

Event - The need to protect agencies and organizations that allow innovation (Figure 2). — A panoramic view of the press conference on the afternoon of June 16th.

The Director of the Department of Civil Servants and Public Officials stated that for the Decree to be effectively implemented, the entire political system, especially agencies such as the judiciary, the procuracy, and the courts, needs to be involved. However, he argued that some provisions of the Decree, if enacted, would exceed the authority of the Government.

Therefore, Mr. Ninh said that they are currently advising the Government to assign the Ministry of Interior to prepare a dossier proposing that the Standing Committee of the National Assembly consider including in the legislative agenda a pilot resolution to encourage and protect dynamic, creative officials who dare to think and act for the common good.

"Based on that, if the National Assembly issues a pilot resolution, the Ministry will issue a decree to implement it. This way, the legal basis is ensured," Mr. Ninh said.

According to Mr. Ninh, including this in the National Assembly session requires preparing a dossier, then posting it on the Information Portal for 30 days, followed by reporting to the Government for a Resolution. Once the Resolution is issued, it is submitted to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, which then considers including it in the National Assembly session's agenda. He expects this content to be included in the agenda of the 6th session of the 15th National Assembly (taking place in October) .

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