Who Has the Authority to Determine State Secrets and the Classification Level of State Secrets? Can the Determination of State Secrets be Delegated to Others?
Who Has the Authority to Determine State Secrets and Their Classification Levels?
Based on Clause 1, Article 2 of the Regulation on the Protection of State Secrets in the Activities of the National Assembly, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the Secretary General of the National Assembly, the Ethnic Council, the Committees of the National Assembly, the Office of the National Assembly, and agencies under the Standing Committee of the National Assembly (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation) issued together with Resolution 757/NQ-UBTVQH15 of 2023:
The authority to determine state secrets and their classification levels is stipulated as follows:
- The Chairman of the National Assembly determines state secrets and their classification levels for information from the National Assembly and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.
- The Secretary General of the National Assembly, the Chairman of the Ethnic Council, the Chairman of a Committee of the National Assembly, the Chairman of the Office of the National Assembly, the Head of a Department under the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, and the Director of the Legislative Research Institute determine state secrets and their classification levels for their respective agencies.
- The heads of departments, bureaus, and units (referred to as units) determine state secrets and their classification levels for their respective units.
Who Has the Authority to Determine State Secrets and Their Classification Levels? Can the determination of state secrets be delegated to others?
Can the Determination of State Secrets Be Delegated to Others?
Based on Clause 1, Article 2 of the Regulation issued together with Resolution 757/NQ-UBTVQH15 of 2023, the stipulations are as follows:
- The Chairman of the National Assembly can delegate the authority to determine state secrets and their classification levels to the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly. Such delegation must be documented in writing.
- The Secretary General of the National Assembly, the Chairman of the Ethnic Council, the Chairman of a Committee of the National Assembly, the Chairman of the Office of the National Assembly, the Head of a Department under the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the Director of the Legislative Research Institute, and the heads of departments, bureaus, and units can delegate the authority to their deputies to determine state secrets and their classification levels for the information within their areas of responsibility.
The delegation must be stipulated in the working regulations or annual assignment documents of the agency or unit or by a written authorization in specific cases. Deputies to whom authority is delegated must take responsibility for their decisions before their superiors and the law and cannot further delegate this authority to others.
What Are the Bases for Determining State Secrets and Their Classification Levels?
According to Clause 3, Article 2 of the Regulation issued together with Resolution 757/NQ-UBTVQH15 of 2023, the bases are as follows:
Determining State Secrets and Their Classification Levels
...
3. Bases for determining state secrets and their classification levels:
a) The determination of state secrets and their classification levels must be based on the provisions of the Law on the Protection of State Secrets and the list of state secrets in various fields promulgated by the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam;
b) When using state secrets from other agencies, organizations, or units, the classification level must be determined accordingly, except in cases specified at point c of this clause;
c) Draft laws, ordinances, and resolutions containing state secrets no longer remain classified as state secrets once approved by the National Assembly or the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, except when it is necessary to classify them as state secrets. In such cases, the agency of the National Assembly or the agency under the Standing Committee of the National Assembly in charge of the content will cooperate with the agency proposing the draft laws, ordinances, or draft resolutions to report to the Chairman of the National Assembly for consideration and decision;
d) When information within the same document or material containing state secrets has different classification levels, the highest classification level must be applied.
Thus, the determination of state secrets and their classification levels is based on the following:
- The determination must be based on the provisions of the Law on the Protection of State Secrets 2018 and the list of state secrets in various fields promulgated by the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam.
- When using state secrets from other agencies, organizations, or units, the corresponding classification level must be determined, except as specified at point c, clause 3, Article 2 of the Regulation issued together with Resolution 757/NQ-UBTVQH15 of 2023.
- Draft laws, ordinances, and resolutions containing state secrets no longer remain classified as state secrets once approved by the National Assembly or the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, except when it is necessary to classify them as state secrets. In such cases, the responsible agency of the National Assembly or the agency under the Standing Committee of the National Assembly will cooperate with the proposing agency to report to the Chairman of the National Assembly for consideration and decision.
- When information within the same document or material containing state secrets has different classification levels, the highest classification level must be applied.
LawNet