Duties and Powers of the People's Public Security

According to the provisions of Article 15 of the People’s Public Security Law 2015, the People’s Public Security Force (CAND) has the following tasks and powers:

- Collect information, analyze, evaluate, forecast the situation, and propose to the Communist Party and the State to issue and direct the implementation of policies, laws, and strategies to protect national security, ensure social order, safety, and combat crime.

- Participate in appraising and evaluating the impact on national security, social order, and safety concerning planning, plans, and socio-economic development projects. Integrate closely the tasks of protecting national security, maintaining social order, and safety, combating crime with the tasks of building and developing the economy, culture, society. Cooperate effectively between security activities and defense and foreign affairs activities.

- Proactively prevent, detect, stop, fight to foil plots, activities infringing on national security, and eliminate threats to national security.

- Protect the Communist Party, the State, and socialist policies, protect the independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the Fatherland; protect political security, security in the fields of ideology - culture, economy, defense, foreign affairs, information, society, environment, and other national interests. Protect the great national unity bloc; protect the lives, health, honor, dignity, property, freedom, and democracy of citizens, and the legal rights and interests of agencies, organizations, and individuals.

- Carry out intelligence activities in accordance with the law.

- Protect senior leaders of the Communist Party, the State, international guests visiting and working in Vietnam; protect important political, economic, diplomatic, scientific - technical, cultural, social events and targets. Protect important structures related to national security, foreign representative offices, and representatives of international organizations in Vietnam; protect individuals holding or closely related to state secrets as prescribed by law.

- Implement management concerning protecting national security, safeguarding state secrets; preside over the management of the entry, exit, transit, residence of foreigners in Vietnam. Control entry, exit, and transit at border gates according to the regulations of the Government of Vietnam; cooperate with the Border Guard, related sectors, and local authorities in managing and protecting national borders, maintaining security, order, and social safety in border areas as prescribed by law.

- Implement management related to investigation and crime prevention. Preside over the task of anti-terrorism, riot prevention, and resolving complex situations involving national security, social order, and safety as prescribed by law.

- Proactively prevent, detect, stop, and fight against crimes and violations of the law concerning social order and safety, environmental protection; receive and handle crime reports, criminal denunciations, and petition for prosecution; prosecute and investigate crimes as prescribed by law; conduct criminal statistics; discover the causes and conditions leading to crimes and violations of the law concerning social order and safety, environmental protection, and propose remedial measures. Educate law violators in the community according to the law.

- Implement management concerning the enforcement of criminal judgments; manage detention camps, compulsory education institutions, reformatory schools, temporary detention camps, and detention centers. Organize the execution of criminal sentences, judicial measures; perform the task of supporting judicial activities as prescribed by law.

- Implement management concerning administrative penalties in the fields of security, order, and social safety; impose administrative penalties and apply administrative handling measures as prescribed by law; ensure security and order while executing enforcement decisions upon the request of competent authorities.

- Implement management concerning residence, national population database, citizen identification, seals, traffic order and safety, public order, weapons, explosives, support tools, firefighting, and prevention as prescribed by law; issue citizen identification cards; register and issue license plates for motor vehicles; conduct firefighting, rescue, and salvage operations; perform management related to security and order for business sectors and conditional protection services as prescribed by law.

- Preside and coordinate in managing and conducting propaganda and education on national security protection, ensuring social order and safety, fighting against crime. Guide, inspect, investigate, resolve complaints, and denunciations in activities to protect national security, maintain social order and safety, and combat crime.

- Act as the core force in building the people's security posture, fostering the movement of all people to protect national security. Guide agencies and organizations to carry out the task of protecting internal political security, economic security, finance, currency, investment, ideological-cultural security, information security, social security, and environmental security.

- Guide and train professional skills and provide legal knowledge to the street protection force, civilian self-defense force, and agency and enterprise protection as prescribed by law.

- Apply measures of public mobilization, law, diplomacy, economy, science - technology, profession, and armed force to protect national security and maintain social order and safety as prescribed by law.

- Be authorized to use weapons, explosives, and support tools to attack and capture criminals, prevent persons from committing crimes or other law violations, and for justifiable defense as prescribed by law.

- Decide or propose to suspend or cease the activities of agencies, organizations, or individuals whose actions endanger or threaten to endanger national security, public order, and safety; request agencies, organizations, or individuals to provide information, documents, and objects when there is a basis to determine that they are related to activities infringing on national security, public order, and safety as prescribed by law.

- Mobilize and requisition information means, transportation means, other means, and persons using or operating such means in urgent cases to protect national security and public order, and safety or to prevent social harm in progress or at risk of occurring as prescribed by law.

- Implement measures to protect national security and maintain social order and safety in the event of war, state of emergency, or when there is a threat to national security, public order, and safety but not to the extent of declaring a state of emergency as prescribed by law.

- Research, apply, and mobilize scientific and technological achievements in protecting national security, maintaining social order and safety, and building the People’s Public Security Force.

- Build a revolutionary, regular, elite, and gradually modernized People’s Public Security Force as the core in performing the task of protecting national security, ensuring social order and safety, and combating crime.

- Conduct international cooperation in combating crime, protecting national security, maintaining social order and safety, and building the People’s Public Security Force; act as the central agency for extradition, transfer of persons serving prison sentences, and judicial assistance in criminal matters according to the provisions of law and international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

- Exercise other tasks and powers as prescribed by law.

The People’s Public Security Law 2014 came into effect on July 1, 2015.

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