Proposal to abolish the regulation requiring traffic police in Vietnam to salute and thank during traffic control

Hello. Lawnet would like to address your query as follows:

The Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam is soliciting public feedback on the draft Circular stipulating the duties, powers, forms, contents, and procedures for the patrol, inspection, and handling of administrative violations in road traffic conducted by the Traffic Police.

Compared to Circular 65/2020/TT-BCA dated June 19, 2022, which regulates the duties, powers, forms, contents, and procedures for the patrol, inspection, and handling of administrative violations in road traffic by the Traffic Police, the Draft Circular introduces changes regarding the conduct of inspections of persons and vehicles in traffic.

The Traffic Police are no longer required to verbally greet and thank after conducting traffic inspections.

After notifying and requesting the driver to take safety measures, disembark from the vehicle, and present the relevant documents as required, the Traffic Police will salute according to the People's Public Security's Orders (except for cases where it is known that the person is committing an act indicative of a crime, caught in the act of committing a crime, is under a warrant, behaves uncivilly, or obstructs or opposes the inspection and control).

Circular 65/2020/TT-BCA specifies:

Article 18. Conducting Inspections

When the traffic vehicle to be inspected has stopped at the correct position according to the instructions, the appointed Traffic Police officer shall stand at a suitable, safe position and perform the following:

1. Notify and request the driver to take safety measures, disembark from the vehicle, and present the relevant documents as required.

2. Salute according to the People's Public Security Orders or greet verbally: Chào ông, bà, anh, chị…” (except in cases where it is pre-known that the individual is committing an act indicative of a crime, caught in the act of committing a crime, is under a warrant), then ask: “Yêu cầu ông, bà, anh, chị... cho chúng tôi kiểm soát các giấy tờ có liên quan và kiểm soát phương tiện giao thông”.

3. Upon receiving the documents (if available), notify the driver and passengers of the reason for the inspection, then conduct the inspection of the contents specified in Clause 2, Article 10 of this Circular.

4. After completing the inspection, the Traffic Police officer shall report the results to the Team Leader, inform the driver and passengers of the inspection results, any violations (if any), the handling measures, and say: “Cảm ơn ông, bà, anh, chị,… đã hợp tác với lực lượng Cảnh sát giao thông để bảo đảm trật tự, an toàn giao thông”. For vehicles transporting 10 or more passengers, the officer should enter the passenger compartment to conduct the inspection and announce the results.

5. If there are grounds to suspect that the persons, vehicles, or objects are concealing materials or evidence used to commit administrative violations, they may search the individuals, vehicles, or objects in accordance with administrative violation handling laws.

6. If signs of a crime are detected, proceed according to the legal provisions on criminal procedures.

Thus, the Draft has removed the requirement for the Traffic Police to verbally greet: "Chào ông, bà, anh, chị. Yêu cầu ông, bà, anh, chị... cho chúng tôi kiểm soát các giấy tờ có liên quan và kiểm soát phương tiện giao thông".

Likewise, after completing the inspection, the Traffic Police officer is not required to say: "Cảm ơn ông, bà, anh, chị,… đã hợp tác với lực lượng CSGT để bảo đảm trật tự ATGT".

Additionally, the Draft proposes 4 scenarios where the Traffic Police are authorized to stop vehicles as follows:

- Directly detect or through technical equipment, collect evidence of traffic law violations and other legal violations.

- Execute orders, plans for comprehensive traffic vehicle inspections, patrol plans, and thematic violation handling plans approved by competent authorities.

- Act upon written requests from Heads or Deputy Heads of investigative agencies, functional bodies requesting vehicle stops for inspection, to ensure security, order, crime prevention, and handle other legal violations. The request must specify the time, route, vehicles to be stopped for inspection, and the coordinating force involved.

- Based on reports, reflections, recommendations, or accusations from organizations or individuals about legal violations by persons and vehicles involved in road traffic.

More details can be found in the Draft Circular in the attached file.

Sincerely!

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