Effective on July 1, 2012, the Law on Complaints (the Law) provides complaints and settlement of complaints about administrative decisions and acts of state administrative agencies and competent persons.
The Law also applies to complaints and settlement of complaints about decisions on disciplining of cadres and civil servants.
Together with the Law, the Law on Denunciations is also promulgated. According to Deputy Inspector General Nguyen Van Thanh, replacing the 1998 Law on Complaints and Denunciations (amended twice in 2004 and 2005) by two separate laws is suitable to the particularity of complaint and denunciation.
With 70 articles, the Law is expected to facilitate people, agencies and organizations in exercising their right to complain as well as enhance state agencies’ responsibilities in complaint settlement.
As per the Law, complaint is a request made by a citizen, an agency or organization or a state employee to a competent agency or person to reconsider an administrative decision or act which the former believes to be unlawful.
Complaints and settlement of complaints of foreign agencies, organizations and individuals in
The making and settlement of complaints must be conducted in an objective, public, democratic and timely manner.
Order of filing complaints
Compared to the 1998 Law, the Law has changed the order of filing a complaint. According to Article 7 of the Law, complainants may initiate administrative lawsuits at courts at any time during the complaint-settling process.
For first-time complaints, instead of being only allowed to file such complaint with the person who has issued the administrative decision in question, the complainant may from July 2012 complain with such person, or with the body managing the official or employee who has performed the administrative act and the complainant has grounds to believe that such decision or act has contravened law, infringing upon his/her rights and legitimate interests, or may initiate an administrative lawsuit at a court.
In reality, there are cases in which many persons complain about the same content. The Law adds provisions on settlement of this type of complaints in order to limit negative consequences caused by such complaints.
Rights and obligations of complainants and complained persons
The Law contains clear provisions on the rights and obligations of the complainant and the complained person.
The complainant may authorize a lawyer or legal aid officer to file a complaint to protect his/her rights and legitimate interests.
Both the complainant and the complained person are entitled to read, photocopy, transcribe or see documents and evidence gathered by the complaint settler.
The complained person must compensate the damage and overcome the consequences caused by his/her wrongful administrative decision or act.
The Law also defines the rights and obligations of lawyers and legal aid officers. Accordingly, lawyers and legal aid officers are entitled to participate in the process of complaint settlement. They may exercise the complainant’s rights and obligations when they are authorized to complain.
The statute of limitation for filing a complaint is 90 days from the date of receiving the administrative decision or detecting the administrative act in question. Where a complainant cannot exercise his/her right to complain within such statute of limitation due to his/her illness, a natural disaster, enemy sabotage, or other objective obstacles, the duration when such obstacle exists is not counted in the statute of limitation for complaining.
Under Article 8 of the Law, complaints may be made directly or in writing.
Complainants may withdraw their complaints at any time during the process of complaint settlement.
Settlement of complaints about administrative decisions and acts
The competence to settle complaints is defined in Section 1, Chapter 3 of the Law. Accordingly, persons whose administrative decisions or acts are complained about may settle first-time complaints and the heads of such competent persons’ direct superior agencies may settle second-time complaints.
Besides, the Law specifies responsibilities of provincial-level People’s Committee chairpersons, ministers and the Prime Minister for handling disputes over the complaint settling competence.
To ensure simplification, publicity and democracy, the Law adds provisions on the order and procedures for complaint settlement.
In the course of complaint settlement, when necessary, the complaint settler may directly meet the complainant, the complained person and persons with related rights and interests for clarification of the complaint details as well as the complainant’s claims. Representatives of relevant socio-political organizations and socio-professional organizations may be invited to attend such meetings which must be conducted in a public and democratic manner.
Under Article 11 of the Law, complaints made in any of the following circumstances will not be accepted for settlement:
1. Administrative decisions and acts of state agencies for internal direction; administrative decisions and acts of superior administrative agencies for direction of subordinate ones; administrative decisions issued according to the law on promulgation of legal documents; and administrative decisions and acts classified as state secrets;
2. The complained administrative decision or act is not directly related to the complainant’s rights and legitimate interests;
3. The complainant has no full civil act capacity and no lawful representative;
4. The representative is unqualified;
5. The written complaint is not signed by the complainant or pressed with his/her fingerprint;
6. The statute of limitations or time limit for lodging complaints has expired and no plausible reasons can be produced;
7. The complaint has been settled by the second settlement decision;
8. Past 30 days from the date of issuance a written notice of complaint settlement termination suspension, the complainant does not continue to complain;
9. The complaint has been accepted by a court for settlement or already settled by a court judgment or decision, except the decision on suspension of the administrative case has been issued by the court. (VLLF)-